


Coalescence

by infiniteworld8, Magnusismyrock



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, But it was cancelled so I put it on hold to edit it, Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, Disapproving Family, First Time, M/M, Malec Big Bang 2017, Oral Sex, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, The smut isn't until later, This was meant to be for the
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-02-23 09:06:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13186875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infiniteworld8/pseuds/infiniteworld8, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnusismyrock/pseuds/Magnusismyrock
Summary: Beginning with the scene where Magnus agrees to be Izzy's lawyer, canon diverges from there gradually.  What if Valentine had asked his second best friend to join in his experiments?  How does that affect the plot of the show down the line?





	1. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the many betas I had! Constantfluxx and infiniteworld8 in particular for the frequent re-editing for me. And to the lovely infiniteworld8 for helping me with the more explicit scenes later in the fic. You are the best smut writer and it's crazy how well our writing styles mesh so well. Infinite love for you <3
> 
> This began as a prompt fill that refused to fit the prompt, and the morphed into a bigger and scarier mess once I signed up to do the big bang. It's been a major ride, and I hope you all like it!

“In fact, I’ll do you pro bono.”

“Anything else?”

Magnus thought for a second, then said “how about one date? Go on one date with me, and I’ll help your darling sister with her trial.” Magnus seemed a bit smug, yet his eyes betrayed something like desperate need.

“Done.”

 

\--

 

Alec arrived at Magnus’s loft at a quarter after three in the afternoon, two days after the trial finished.  Taking a few deep breaths to center himself first, he knocked twice and went through the door.  “Magnus?”

“In here, darling. Just finishing up,” Magnus called from somewhere in his room.  

Alec just stood in the doorway looking at the various decorations Magnus had around.  He eyed some of the books in the bookcase and marvelled at some of the more eclectic titles that Magnus owned.   _ Twenty-one leaves for medical use, 1792,  _  caught his eye as one of the more confusing titles.

Alec was wearing an outfit that Izzy had picked out for him. Naturally, it was a bit tighter than he would normally wear and hugged his muscles in ways Alec wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with.  The denim shirt dug in a little at the elbows when he bent his arm fully, but otherwise at least it was mostly unrestricted.  Alec would hate to sacrifice mobility for fashion.

Eventually, Magnus stepped out of his room and into the foyer.  “Well hello, Alexander.  You’re looking fine this evening.  Did you get all dressed up for me?”  Magnus was dressed as beautifully as ever, flamboyant and yet still very  masculine, with clothes that clung to him in all the right places.  Alec tried to suppress himself from licking his lips, but he failed pretty quickly when Magnus stepped more into the light. 

“Izzy picked the outfit,” Alec deadpanned.  

“Ah, young Isabelle has good taste.” Magnus looked Alec up and down before smiling that smile that melted Alec’s heart just a little bit.  Not that Alec would show it, of course.

“Let’s get this date over with.” Alec was dreading this date.  He knew it couldn’t end well.  Either the date goes horribly and then, of course, it’s a bad time, and the Institute might even lose one of their best warlocks.  Alternatively, the date goes well.  Alec didn’t want to think about what would happen if the date went well.

Magnus opened a portal with a flourish of his hand.  “Right this way, dear,” he said, motioning for Alec to go first and following shortly behind. “Ah, welcome to Montenegro.”

Alec didn’t really know what to do with that information, but he could smell the sea and hear the waves nearby. “So, where are we going?”

“Well, first we are getting dinner at one of Montenegro’s finest restaurants, La Bocca. It’s known for being a good date location.”

Alec watched the way Magnus’s glittery eyeshadow reflected the light.  “Alright, lead the way,” he smiled into his words.  He may have been apprehensive about the date, but he made the conscious decision to try to have a good time.  It definitely helped when Magnus started walking and Alec could see just how tight Magnus’s pants were.

 

\--

 

Dinner was delicious, but not much was said between the two of them.  It wasn’t until after they left the restaurant that anything of consequence was broached.

They were walking along the beach when Magnus pulled to a stop and said, “So, where to, Alexander?  We could go anywhere in the world.”

Alec looked at Magnus, whose hair was glittering with the sway of the sea.  He looked so beautiful that if Alec were a lesser man, he might've been weak in the knees.  A brilliant smile still broke through his usual, calm demeanour. Thinking hard before answering, he said, “It’s… It’s going to sound silly, but I want to watch the sunset? It’s already night here, but it’s sunset somewhere, right?”

Magnus’s face lit up at the words. “I would love to watch the sunset with you.” He checked his watch, seeming to calculate for a moment, then opened a portal. “I’m not certain of when the sun will set, but we should be pretty close here.”

They stepped through the portal, and Alec looked around. “Where exactly is ‘here’?”

“Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro.  The park is closed to mundanes by now so we should be alone.” Magnus gently touched Alec’s arm, “Come, there should be a bench over here”.

 

\--

 

They sat on the bench Magnus had led them to in companionable silence for awhile, waiting for the sun to start to set. The bench was a little small for the two of them, so they sat with their thighs pressed together. Alec tried to keep himself from blushing every time one of them moved causing their thighs to rub together ever so slightly.  Every so often Alec would look over at Magnus and just gaze at him.  With the sun getting low in the sky, Magnus’ glitter was shining and highlighting his best features for Alec to drink in.  The subtle colouring in his hair glinted with every movement, and Alec had to fight down a dopey smile every time he looked at him.  If times were different, or Alec wasn’t getting married to Lydia, or the Clave were over itself and didn’t look down on both downworlders and anything outside of their neat little heteronormative bubble, then this date may have been perfect.  Alec could freely watch the sparkle in Magnus’s eyes, love gazing at the way the setting sun mixed with his skin tone, maybe even reach out and hold his hand if he had the courage to.

But the Clave wasn’t changing anytime soon, and the circumstances surrounding this date weren’t either.  Alec couldn’t risk everything just to hold the man’s hand while the sun sets.  Even if he wanted to so badly.

It felt like Magnus kept shifting ever so slightly closer, and Alec’s nerves were absolutely on fire with every subtle shift or movement.  What had been just their thighs slightly touching became their thighs firmly pressed together, and their arms too, from their shoulders all the way to the elbows.  If Alec just moved his hand an inch or two to the right, he would be holding Magnus’ hand.  

As Alec debated what to do with that information while the sun slowly left the sky, Magnus made the decision for Alec and leant his head against Alec’s shoulder.

Neither Alec nor Magnus said a word, just watching the sun slowly set together.  It was a breathtaking sight, even if Alec’s mind was firmly stuck on Magnus the entire time.  He silently prayed that the sun would never fully set and break this spell that was placed over them, or if it must set, nothing would change anyway.  He was enjoying this date entirely too much for his own good. 

With only a few minutes left of sunset, Alec’s resolve broke. He reached his hand those few inches and laced their fingers together.  He could feel Magnus’s eyes on him, and looked down at his face.

The sight he was greeted with was even more breathtaking than the sunset. Magnus was smiling brilliantly up at him, and Alec’s heart was absolutely pounding in his chest.  They stayed like that for a moment before Magnus spoke. “Can I kiss you?”  His voice was low, almost like he was too afraid that speaking at all would make Alec think about what they were doing and leave.  

Alec’s heart was trying to beat right out of his chest, and his face was so hot.  He reacted entirely on impulse and leant the last few inches forward, pressing their lips together ever so gently.  The second their lips connected Alec’s nerves were like live wires, all stinging slightly but in the best way.  He didn’t know kissing could be this nice, let alone one so simple as a brush of the lips.  He pulled away to try to remember how to breathe because even just the one simple kiss had knocked the breath out of him.  When he opened his eyes that he hadn’t noticed he had closed, all he could see was Magnus’ face looking up at him in amazement.  All Alec could do in the moment was react to his own impulses and lean back down to meet Magnus’ lips again, this time more firmly.

They continued kissing for what felt like both an infinite amount of time, and yet at the same time, not nearly long enough.  Eventually, Magnus pulled away, leaving Alec slightly panting, pressed close enough that his breath was still hitting Magnus’s lips.  “You are absolutely exquisite, Alexander.”  Alec smiled down at Magnus and went in for one more short kiss, still giving Alec a little zing even after having been kissing for awhile. 

When he pulled away, still slightly dazed from the kiss, he felt himself yawn and looked around only to realise that the sun had fully set and it was getting pretty dark out. “Hey, uh.  Sun’s down.  We should probably portal back to New York,” Alec said, wishing he wasn’t saying the words.  He let out another yawn as he stood up to stretch.

“Alright, Alec,” Magnus said as he stood up and opened a portal.

 

\--

 

Stepping through the portal into Magnus’s flat, Alec turned around towards Magnus after he followed through.  Alec fully intended to ask Magnus to open a portal to the institute or to say something that would end the date, but instead, he found himself stepping into Magnus’s personal space and wrapping his arms around the warlock and leaning in for another kiss.  He couldn’t seem to get enough, especially with the nagging thought that it wouldn’t happen again after the date ended.  The feeling of kissing Magnus was so good it was really helping Alec ignore his rationale for why he ever would deny himself this. Every kiss left him breathless and wanting to cling to Magnus in any way he could.

Alec was kissing Magnus like he was a drowning man and Magnus oxygen.  Magnus walked Alec backwards towards the couch, and Alec sat when the back of his knees hit the plush cushions.

Magnus sat next to him, grabbed a blanket, and pulled it over the two of them before cuddling up to Alec’s side.  “Just stay like this with me for now?” Magnus asked, somewhat muffled against Alec’s shoulder.  

Alec really liked the sound of just staying right where he was, so he didn’t resist.  He yawned and placed an arm around Magnus’ shoulders to pull him a little closer, wanting to feel more of his warm weight against him.  With another yawn, he started to doze off.

 

\--

 

Light streamed in through the curtains of the loft, casting long shadows and giving the main area an ethereal haze.  Alec slowly woke and opened his eyes.  Before he could get a grasp on where he was, he felt Magnus’ hand move on his chest.  “Morning.”

Alec blinked down at the man lying against his chest, twirling his fingers around and causing little jumps in Alec’s breathing.  “Uh.  Morning,” he stumbled.  He pushed himself to fully sitting, groaning a bit from the stiffness from sleeping hunched on a couch wrapped around another person.  He silently cursed himself for ever even dozing off.

Magnus still leant against Alec, though not almost on top of him the way Magnus had been, sat up.  He looked Alec in the eyes, trying to discern how the shadowhunter was feeling.  He could see the war starting just behind Alec’s eyes.  He sat up fully to give Alec some space to stand up.

Standing, Alec looked around a moment longer to fully get his bearings before looking back down at Magnus.  “Hey.”

“Hello. Apologies for never getting us further than sitting on the couch, but maybe next time?” Magnus added a little wink at the end.

“Yeah.” Alec looked around, trying to find some way to exit the conversation before it started.  He knew he had to leave, had to go back to the Institute, back to the Clave.  

Magnus stood up, very close to Alec who hadn’t moved more than an inch after standing.  Before he could say anything though, Alec’s phone buzzed.

Alec stepped back, checked the message, and looked back at Magnus, “I. Uh. I need to get back,” he stumbled, trying to get the words out without saying what he was really thinking. 

“Of course.  Care for some coffee before you go?” Magnus started walking towards the kitchen as he spoke.

“I…” Alec looked down before speaking again. “I would love to but Jace said it was important.  Uh… rain check?” He was smiling and trying not to be too hopeful about it.

“Of course, Alexander.  Go be a shadowhunter.” Magnus, with a flourish of magic, had the door swing open as Alec turned to leave.

As Alec reached the foot of the stairs he heard a portal open. On the landing, a travel mug was sitting on the banister with a paper saying, “Alexander <3   - Magnus”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so this is the absolute longest fic I've ever written and while all of the writing is done, I need to edit a lot of the ending still. Mostly formatting issues at this point, so it shouldn't be very long until it's done. But with that being said it's sat there for the last month untouched so I decided to post the first chapter so you guys might motivate me to finally finish off the editing. So please please leave comments on what you think of it so far.
> 
> Also, if there are any formatting things please point them out so I can fix them for the future since I'm working on formatting better right now anyways haha


	2. 1x12 Malec

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter that covers 1x12. Think of this as slotting neatly into the rest of the episode.

Alec walked into Magnus’ apartment and called out for him. “Magnus?  You said you needed to talk to me?”

“Nice to see you, Alec.” Magnus emerged from his room, handing Alec a glass of wine. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come. You know how I hate drinking alone.”

“I didn’t come here to drink.” Alec set the glass down on a nearby table.  “Do you have any information--”

“--on the warlock who cast the spell on Jocelyn? No.  We never did get to talk after our date.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m getting married to Lydia.”

“You’ll be lonely your entire life.  Neither of you deserves that.  Neither do I.” Magnus looked away with that admission and took a deep drink from his glass.

“You and I, we understand marriage very differently.  This is about family, tradition, honour--”

“Where is the honour in living a lie?” Magnus took a step closer to Alec. “What about love?  Even shadowhunters fall in love.” Magnus was right in front of Alec.  “Just tell me you’re in love with Lydia, and I’ll stop.”

Alec’s mouth was dry, he couldn’t think the words even if he could speak anyways.  Looking away, he shifted his weight and said, “I don’t know.  Why do you keep pushing? You… You’re confusing me.  Wasn’t the date enough for you?”  Alec pushed past Magnus and stepped away.

“Confusion is a part of it.  That’s how you find out if something is there.  Emotions are never black and white.  They’re more like symptoms.” Magnus started circling Alec like a predator hunting prey. “You lose your breath every time they walk in the room.” Magnus gently let his hand trail up Alec’s arm.  Alec shuddered from the electric jolt he got from the gesture. “Your heart beats faster when they walk by.” Magnus got close to Alec’s side. “Your skin tingles when they stand close enough to feel their breath.” 

Alec’s heart was hammering in his chest.  All he could think about was the blood rushing in his ears and how it had felt to kiss Magnus during their date.  It was taking all of Alec’s resolve to refrain from devouring Magnus’s lips in a searing kiss.

“I know you feel what I feel Alec.”

Alec looked at Magnus.  Every fibre of his being was reaching out, trying to pull him to Magnus.  To act on his desires.  “You don’t have a clue what I feel, so back off.”  Alec stepped away from Magnus, forcing himself to cut off that connection his body craved so much.  “This is all just a game to you.  You flirt, you laugh, you use magic, but in the end, what do you risk?”  Alec was starting to get angry.  Magnus had no right to ask this of Alec, and it hurt to pull himself away from Magnus without him trying to keep pulling him back in.  “Even if I did feel something for you, you want me to give up my life for you?  I have to do what’s right for me.  I could lose my family, my career, everything!” Alec turned away, unable to continue looking at Magnus.

“You still have a choice.  I will not ask again.”

When Alec turned back around to answer Magnus, he was gone.  Alec left to get ready for his wedding.

 

\--

 

Standing at the altar was nerve wracking. Alec couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting, fixing his cuffs, picking at his nails, anything he could do to keep moving and release some of the energy.  As the ceremony started, he forced himself to stand still and watch as Lydia walked the aisle.

She was pretty.  The jewels on her dress glinted in the lights, the roses she held were perfect and a deep red that contrasted well.  Her hair was done in an intricate braid.  Alec thought to himself that his mother must be so proud that he is marrying someone like her.

Following the traditions, Lydia placed the golden bracelet on his wrist, and he placed the necklace on her neck, doing his best not to fumble the clasp or get it caught in her hair.

Just as Lydia was about to mark Alec’s hand with the wedded union rune, Alec heard a door bang.  Looking up, his breath caught in his throat.  Magnus was standing at the end of the aisle, looking at Alec with so much hope in his eyes, silently begging Alec to not go through with the wedding.

Alec stood staring at Magnus, trying his hardest to breathe and control his rapidly beating heart.  Alec watched as his mother rose from her seat and headed towards Magnus. 

“Magnus, leave this wedding now.”

Magnus stopped her short, “Maryse, this is between me and your son.  I’ll leave if he asks me to.”  Magnus walked further down the aisle, staring directly at Alec.

Alec was still having trouble remembering to breathe, and with the blood rushing in his ears, he almost didn’t hear Jace speak.

“Are you gonna be okay buddy?”

Lydia pulled Alec’s attention away from Magnus by squeezing his hand and saying his name. “Alec? Hey.”

Alec still couldn’t breathe.  Attempting to speak and stumbling over his breath, he spoke, “I… I can’t breathe.”

Lydia shook her head. “I know.  It’s okay.”

Alec looked at her and tried to imagine a life with her.  All he could think about though was Magnus’s words and the slightest touch of Magnus’s hand on his arm.  _ You lose your breath every time they walk in the room. _ His body was pulling at him to go to Magnus, to fall into his arms and never let go.  Gathering himself he looked Lydia in the eye and said, “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

She put her hand on his neck, just over his defense rune and said, “You don’t have to explain. You deserve to be happy.”

With Lydia settled, Alec turned back to the crowd and Magnus.  Looking at the entire room full of shadowhunter dignitaries, silent brothers, and other assorted clave members and shadowhunters, Alec took a deep breath and swallowed before stepping off the dais.

Steeling his resolve, he stepped further and further down the aisle, silencing his mother with an “Enough” when she tried to stop him.

When he reached Magnus, he listened to what his body was saying to him and pulled Magnus in, crashing their lips together in front of everyone in the audience.  All eyes were on the pair as they kissed, unable to stop themselves once they had started.  Every movement was electric, every brush of lips and tongue.  Something was pulling on Magnus’ magic in the same way Alec was pulled towards Magnus as if a rope tied them together.  Neither man stopped hungrily kissing the other because of the feeling, if anything it only made them want the other more.  

Pulling away for a breath, Alec looked into Magnus’ beautiful eyes before crashing back into him with renewed want, knowing this man felt the same way he did.  Every moment that passed felt like an eternity was passing.  The world seemed to slow down around the two as they stood there kissing.  The pull between them only seemed to grow stronger with every movement.  Alec couldn’t think about anything other than how right it felt to be standing there, kissing Magnus as he was.  

As their kissing slowed, the world reoriented itself around them.  Pulling apart, Magnus spoke, “You never cease to amaze me, Alec.”

Alec just stared at Magnus’ lips and then watched as Magnus’s eyes shined in the light.  Alec felt a contentedness settling inside him.  It made him yearn to capture Magnus’s lips again, but he refrained so he could continue to watch the intricate shifts in Magnus’s eyes.

Izzy interrupted them, saying, “Alec, I am so proud of you.”

They continued chatting with her and Simon for awhile until they were the only four left in the room.

Simon, realising Clary was gone, said, “Hey, I’m gonna go find Clary.  You two, good luck with everything,” before walking off in search of his friend.

Izzy, sensing that she was the only person left in the room other than the couple, decided to give them some space and left after a quick goodbye and similar giving of luck to the two of them.  She closed the door to the room, leaving them completely alone and closed off from the rest of the Institute.

“I can’t believe I did that,” Alec groaned, sitting in a chair.

“Second thoughts?” Magnus sounded like the very idea was impossible and therefore hilarious.

“No.  None about you, anyways.” Alec leant his head against Magnus, who was standing next to his chair.

“Good.  Well now that the entire shadowhunter race knows about us, what do you say we go and find the  _ Book of the White _ for Clary?  I brought some things that should help us find it.”

Alec looked up at Magnus, who was looking down at him and smiling.  He sat up and straightened out his suit before standing.  “One thing first,” he said, ducking his head in for another quick kiss, wrapping his hand around Magnus’ wrist.  He didn’t think he would ever get tired of the rush he felt with every kiss, even if it had lessened some since their first.  

Pulling away, Magnus said, “Before we head back into the craziness, I just wanted to say, you certainly know how to make a statement.” 

Alec let out a breathy laugh. “Yeah, well, at least if anyone asks, we have already had our first date.  But did you maybe wanna… I don’t know… get a drink some time?”

As a response, Magnus just leant in and pecked Alec’s lips.  Turning towards the doors, Magnus grabbed Alec’s wrist and led him away. “Now, let’s go get the  _ Book of the White _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to the person who hoped Alec wouldn't try to go through with his marriage to Lydia. I was keeping as much canon in it as I could.


	3. In Between

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS GO LOOK AT Highwarluckbane's art fill for the fic!! It's so so so good.  
> In other news this chapter isn't super important, mostly just fills in the inbetween areas a little bit to get from the last chapter to the next one. I will be posting the next chapter this weekend hopefully. <3

They were in the hallway.  With everything with Camille and the  _ Book of the White _ happening, they had only just then gotten the chance to slip away to talk.  

“I know you don’t want to hear this so I’ll just say this once. Whatever I felt for Camille, it’s ancient history.  Almost literally.”  

Alec heard the words, but it didn’t quell his actual fears.  “Yeah, but what she said about you being immortal, she’s right.  You watch the people you care about age and die.”  It had been less than a day since Alec had made the decision that Magnus was what he wanted, but already the thought was heavy on his mind.

“Alexander… I may be the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but... even I can’t see the future.”  Magnus looked up, and seeing Alec’s impassive face, took a step towards him.  “Time doesn’t affect me like it does for you, but I could die tomorrow.” Magnus mumbled out the next part, “especially with Valentine on the loose.”  He reached forward to touch Alec’s elbow. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be good together while our time overlaps.”  He brought his hand up Alec’s arm and rested his hand over his defense rune.  “Let’s just think about what we might have now.  Maybe plan that date some time?” Alec weakly smiled at the mention of the date again.

Leaning forward, Alec touched his forehead to Magnus’s.  With a steadying breath he said, “Okay… okay,” and wrapped his arms around Magnus in a tight embrace.  

Hearing footsteps, they separated. 

“They’re ready.  They moved her to the ops centre.”

With one last look to Alec, Magnus led the way to go wake Jocelyn.

 

\--

 

With Jocelyn awake and Jace still god knows where with Valentine, Alec really wanted to get started on searching for his parabatai.  The world didn’t agree.

With Jocelyn recently awoken, Clary was tied up.  Izzy was hovering around Clary making sure she was okay.  Magnus was tired from the magical expenditure of waking Jocelyn.  Lydia had wanted everything more under control before she allowed Alec to start a mission searching for Jace.

With his orders to stand down from Lydia, Alec sought out Magnus, finding him in one of the halls.

“Hey.”

“Hello, Alexander.” Magnus looked a bit tired, not collapsing exhausted but still tired.  “I could go for a drink right about now.”

“Honestly?  Me too.”  Alec leaned against the wall opposite Magnus. “With Jocelyn awake I thought we would get to trying to find Jace right away, but Lydia is having me stand down until more people are able to help with the search.  I’m just tearing myself apart trying not to freak out about this and she wants me to just sit around and wait.”

Magnus nodded.  “Hmm. She has a point.  You should wait for backup, though I also see your perspective.  Not knowing where your parabatai is must be hell.  Is there anything I can assist you with to help ease your mind for awhile?” Magnus had stepped closer to Alec, not touching but close enough to be in his space.

Alec could feel his anxiety rising.  He couldn’t feel Jace through the bond, and this thing he had with Magnus was so new.  He wanted to pull away, turn and run, hide somewhere.  He could feel Magnus’s concern for him too; it radiated off of him in waves.  “When Lydia lets us get started, help me find Jace,” he finally answered.

“Of course,” Magnus responded quickly.

They heard the click of Izzy’s heels down the hall.  Turning towards the sound, Alec saw his sister. “Get ready, Lydia is gathering people to help search for Jace in the ops centre.”

 

\--

 

He needed to go see Magnus.  After that fight they had at the Institute, Alec’s skin had been crawling.  He knew he had screwed things up and he needed to fix them, and soon.  

The decision to leave the Institute was easy as soon as Aldertree threatened to de-rune Izzy if she went after Jace.  

Alec was irritable and almost blew up on some random Shadowhunter for bumping into him on the way out the door.  It almost felt how it feels when Jace was incredibly upset with him and it was radiating through the bond, but Alec knew it couldn’t be Jace because the bond was still silent.  Which only fueled his need to find him, and also his irritation.  

He didn’t get far outside though before his mother stopped him.

 

\--

 

Magnus’s magical ball flew past and broke a lamp with a crack.  Stepping closer, Alec spoke, “You were right.”  Alec watched as Magnus grabbed a vest to put on. “When I called off my wedding, that was for me.  But this is all just… It’s very new.”  Alec couldn’t form the right words.  Everything was out of balance, out of focus.  He wanted so badly to fix whatever was happening with Magnus, and to get Jace back, which could be a function of fixing things with Magnus too.

“This may surprise you, but you’re new for me too.” Magnus threw the words at him like throwing knives. 

Alec looked away to try to find the right words.  The words to convince Magnus that he really was sorry.  “Look, with Jace missing, it’s just like.  The ground has shifted and I—” Magnus rolled his eyes and started walking into the apartment. “I can’t keep my balance.”  Magnus brushed past Alec. “Just…” Alec grabbed his arm, turning him towards him.  With that bit of contact, it was like half his world shifted and balanced out.  Things were still precarious but he had a base to start from again.  He slid his hand down Magnus’s arm, every inch balancing himself more. “I didn’t mean to take it out on you.  I’m sorry.”  Staring into Magnus’s eyes, he waited for his response.

“You’re forgiven.  Also, you’re great at apologies.”  Magnus unrumpled Alec’s coat, making him smile.  

Turning towards the edge of the balcony, Alec stepped away from Magnus. “Thanks.” He still needed to find Jace, but with Magnus not being upset with him, he felt much better.  That irritability he had been feeling before was gone and his skin stopped crawling.  “I’ve been working on it.”

Magnus stepped back into his space. “Here’s the thing.  We’re always going to face challenges.  So when things get crazy, don’t push me away.” Magnus’s eyes looked so sincere all Alec could do was nod.  

Reaching forward he grabbed Magnus’s hand.  The contact cleared some of the storm of worry in his head and calmed him.  Stepping closer he pressed his forehead to Magnus’s and just breathed for a moment.  “You make things less crazy.”  He leaned the last inch or so and kissed his boyfriend.  

Pulling back Magnus spoke, “Let’s track Jace. I’ll take away the pain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know if there is any formatting issues or something. :)


	4. Crumble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its the weekend, guess what I promised to do!

Jace was missing.  Again.  Alec had read the report Aldertree had compiled on what happened, and immediately went to the gym to beat some of his frustration into training.  All he could think about was how angry he was.  At Valentine, at Jocelyn and Clary, at everything.  

Then Clary came by and tried to reason with him, and he unleashed all of his pain and worry on her with harsh words before storming off, Izzy hot on his heels.  

“I just want to be left alone right now Izzy,” Alec called over his shoulder.

“Too bad big brother, you’re stuck with me.” Izzy jogged up to his side and linked their elbows together.  “Mind telling me why you blew up like that?  I know Jace is missing, but you’re usually so calm.”  

“I feel like my skin is on fire every time I think about him Iz.  With the bond so weak, I can’t even feel if he’s  _ alive _ when he’s missing like this.  And I just… can’t overlook Clary’s involvement in this.”  Alec rubbed at his parabatai rune.  

Before Izzy could reply, a shadowhunter turned a hallway corner and spoke. “Lydia is calling a meeting.  Come to the Ops Center.  Don’t bring Clary.”

 

\--

 

“Give me the stone.”

Alec gripped the adamas stone tightly and focused inwards, towards the bond.  Within moments, he found himself standing in a tunnel.  A tunnel made of the same stone as the adamas his real self was holding.  

The tunnel stretched for as far as Alec could see in the direction he faced.  Turning around, he was met with what looked like the view he would have if his real self opened his eyes, but it was distorted, as if a portal stood in front of the view.  Turning back towards the tunnel, he called out, “Jace?”

Stepping away from the window to the real world, he headed into the darkness.

 

\--

 

_ Maryse heard a knock at the front door, and left the kitchen to answer it.  Peering through the peephole, she saw Valentine.  “Val, hello.  To what do we owe the surprise?” she said opening the door avoiding her swollen body. _

_ “Maryse, you look well, especially with the little one on the way.  May I come in?  I have something to discuss with you.” Valentine kissed her cheek before stepping past her into the foyer.  “Your husband has already discussed the details with me, but I wanted to discuss this with you before anything is decided of course.” _

 

_ \-- _

 

Alec was stepping through the tunnel slowly.  Looking back, he could only make out a little bit of the window from before.  He continued walking into the darkness.

Just as he couldn’t see the window anymore when he looked back, he came upon a fork in the tunnel.  “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath.  He stepped to where the intersection met and placed his hand on the stone wall.  One side felt smooth and slippery, like a stone in a creek, cold and covered in plant material.  The other side felt more rough, porous.  Almost like unpolished granite or a pumice stone.

Down the smooth path, Alec could see a faint yellow light.  Down the other, a brighter blue one.

Alec sat down at the intersection to think about which fork to take.

 

\--

 

Sitting at the fork, Alec heard a sound.  Clashing steel and Clary yelling.  “Jace!”  Looking towards the sound, Alec could tell it came from the yellow lit path.

He got up and rushed into the tunnel knowing where Clary was, Jace would be.

Behind him, he just barely missed Izzy calling out to him.

 

\--

 

Magnus could tell something was wrong.  He had just portalled Simon out of his loft when it hit him.  Something in the world felt off, wrong, off balance.  Like the floor had just dropped out from under him.

But nothing visibly was wrong.  Nothing in the loft had moved or changed.  There wasn’t anyone barging in like usual.  His potion was bubbling softly as expected.  

Yet something felt wrong.  He thought back through everything that had happened that day to see if something had stood out as being a problem, but nothing in particular came up. Retracing some of his steps left no answers either.  He could not shake the feeling that something was missing.

Then he got a fire message from Isabelle Lightwood requesting him to come to the Institute immediately, and he found out what was missing.

 

\--

 

Alec kept walking down the path towards what he hoped was Jace.  There came a point where the stone he walked on was cracked and broken, like an old sidewalk that got pulled up by tree roots and never fixed.  Soon after hitting that point, each step he took shook the tunnel slightly.

He stopped for a moment from it but continued on, needing to make it to Jace.  With each step, another crack and rumble of the tunnel.

 

\--

 

_ “Now, Maryse dear, drink this.” Valentine handed Maryse a glass of liquid.   _

_ Maryse sniffed the glass before taking a sip and wincing at the taste. “I’m going to have to get used to the taste, won’t I?” _

_ Robert placed his hand on the small of his wife’s back, “Dear, you know this is for the best.  Besides, our baby will be strong.  Will make our family line strong.” he stated.  “It’ll be good for us, and this baby will show the world how great our family truly is.” _

_ Maryse nodded and took another sip from the glass, suppressing the wince at the taste. _

 

_ \-- _

 

As Alec walked on, the rumbling got stronger with each step.  The floor was starting to break apart under his feet, like thin ice.  He looked back towards where he came from, thinking he should go back, but found that the way back was too broken to return.  So he continued onwards.

 

_ \-- _

 

Magnus poured his magic into Alec, like he had been for hours.  Nothing he tried seem to help at all.  He was starting to feel hopeless, even with Izzy encouraging him.  He tried again, probing deeper into his magical reserve, wondering how long he would be able to keep this up.  With how long he had been going, he should be getting tired pretty soon, even if his magic was being gentle with Alec.   Yet, so far, he never so much as felt the need to yawn or stop at all.  In fact, he was feeling, physically, better than ever.  Emotionally compromised, yes.  Physically? He felt like he could run a marathon, and keep his magic flowing at the same time.

He would need to look into this if his body kept this up much longer.

 

\--

 

Alec stopped walking.  He didn’t want to, but the way forward was too broken to continue, just as the way back was.  He was standing on a single line of ground reaching both walls, just wide enough to hold his feet.

He was starting to get desperate about his situation when he saw a light over his shoulder.  Turning, he found a small path beginning to form the way back, led by a blue light.  

Turning fully around, turning his back on Jace, he stepped onto the small path.  The rock wobbled slightly but held his weight.  Looking back one last time, he started on the path back to his body, hoping that when he got back, Jace would be there.

 

\--

 

When Alec reached the original fork in the path, he turned to the other path he hadn’t chosen.  The stone of the walls was smoother than he remembered, closer to the stone of the other path, yet still different, almost like an apache tear.  

Alec debated going down that path, perhaps Jace was down that path and that was why the first one had broken apart under his feet.  

Again, a blue light shone behind him, beckoning him back to his body.  Turning from the other path, he started on the long path to himself.  “Jace, please be there,” he whispered with his first step.

 

\--

 

_ All Maryse could hear was her own screams overlaying the midwives’ reminders to breathe.  The pain was unlike anything she could imagine.  Labour was certainly the worst pain any shadowhunter could endure, she was certain of it.  It had been hours of agonising pain, and all she wanted to do was stop and take a nap.   _

_ “Come on Maryse, push.  You’re stronger than this,” someone’s voice filtered over her screaming. _

 

_ Later, she was handed a bundle of wriggling baby in a soft blue blanket.  Taking her newborn son into her arms, she unshrouded his face a little more.  Staring deeply into his eyes, she knew right then what it meant to love her child.  Turning towards Robert, she nodded to him, “Look at our son.” _

_ “Alexander,” he cooed back to the baby, putting his hand out and touching Alec’s nose for a second before turning to leave. “I’ll get Valentine.” _

_ As Robert left the room, Maryse looked back at the baby in her arms, marvelling at how adorable he was.  Looking back into his eyes, she saw a flicker of bright gold for a moment.  Shaking her head for a moment she said to the midwife, “I really need a nap.  Please take Alexander and alert me when my husband returns.”  _

 

_ \-- _

 

Alec could hear Jace’s voice.  The ground had settled long before and the presence of the blue light seemed to be gone, but now he was getting closer to where he first appeared.  Just barely hearing Jace’s voice over the sound of his footsteps, Alec stopped for a moment.

“Thy people will be my people, and thy God will be my God.”

Hearing that, Alec began sprinting towards the ending.  He would have activated a rune or two to help, but his stele didn’t seem to be on him in the weird tunnel that he was in.  He urged his feet to move faster towards the glassy wall.

“If aught but death part thee and me.”


	5. Who

The moment after Aldertree escorted Jace out of his apartment, leaving Izzy, Clary, and Alec standing in the foyer, Magnus turned towards Alec.  Addressing the girls, he said “You two may want to go with them, see what can be done for Jace?”, casually without taking his eyes off of Alec.  He hoped they would leave the two of them alone. “I’ll take care of Alec, make sure he rests before I portal him to the Institute”.   If he were to have looked at Izzy, he would have seen her about to fight him on it before Clary stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.  

“Come on. Magnus can take care of Alec.  Let’s go get Jace back from the Clave before they do any more harm to my brother,” Clary whispered to her, Magnus only barely hearing it.  Izzy nodded to her before the two of them left.

“Magnus, I need to get to the Institute.  See what can be done for Jace,” Alec said before attempting to sit up.  Groaning, he made it to almost fully upright before Magnus set his hands on Alec’s shoulders.

“Rest.  Please.  Your sister and Clary will see to Jace.  I need to make sure you are okay.” Magnus’s heart was hammering in his chest.  So soon after thinking he had lost Alec entirely, all he wanted to do was hold his shadowhunter and hide him from all of the harm that may come his way.  Knowing they only had so long before Aldertree came questioning the two of them, it was even more imperative for Magnus to get Alec to rest.  “You almost died today.  The shadow world can wait, and your parabatai will be fine.  Besides, you’ll know if he’s not.”

Alec slumped back into the chair he was still situated on, defeated and exhausted. “Five minutes.”

“Ten. And you’re going to drink some tea for me.” Magnus placed a kiss on Alec’s forehead before waving his hand towards the side table, conjuring a steaming cup of tea.  

“I.  Thank you.  Magnus.  For this.  For everything.” Alec struggled with the words, almost too exhausted to speak but needing to get the words out.

“Hush.  We can talk later about all of this.  Right now, I need you to get your strength back.  Just looking at you is making me tired.” Magnus yawned at the tail end of the sentence.  Turning, he went to grab Alec a blanket from his bedroom.

“Wait.” Alec reached and grabbed Magnus’s wrist. Turning, Magnus looked into Alec’s eyes, searching for answers. “Thank you.  I mean it.  I’ll thank you again later when we talk, but I. Just. Thank you.”  Alec’s eyes stared straight through Magnus, almost like he was looking through him, seeing something beyond the front Magnus put out.

Magnus nodded, unsure of what to answer.  Leaning down, he placed a short kiss to Alec’s lips.  “Just don’t do it again.  Please.” The last word came out almost desperately, with Magnus suddenly feeling the weight of emotion behind what losing Alec would mean. “Please don’t.”

Alec wrapped an arm around Magnus’s neck, pulling him into an awkwardly angled hug. “I promise,” he whispered into Magnus’s collar.

 

\--

 

Magnus stepped out of Aldertree’s office, heading towards the main ops centre.  

“How’d it go with Aldertree?” Alec asked, stepping in sync with him.

“Well, the man didn’t disappoint.  In his own charming, inimitable way, he informed me that I will indeed be punished, but the form of punishment is yet to be decided.” He shrugged, not wanting to think about what Aldertree may have in mind.

“All for trying to save my life.” Alec paused. “Jace may have been the one who pulled me out, but I did feel you there.  And it did make a difference, so thank you.” 

Magnus knew it was more a platitude than a true sentiment but he accepted the praise nonetheless. “Thank you for not dying on me,” he said, remembering how it had felt in that moment when he was certain Alec had died.  It was almost like he could feel his own magical power draining from how distraught he had become.  Seeing Alec lying there, in Jace’s arms, no vital signs whatsoever.  Magnus had wanted to bury himself then and there.  He made a mental note to never let Alec see the intensity of those emotions, knowing that Alec wouldn’t feel the same.

“How is Jace?” he stuttered out, trying to change the subject.

“He won’t be gone long.  Once his hand touches the soul sword, the truth will come out. And prove that he’s never been on Valentine’s side.” Alec took a step closer to Magnus. “Look, I know that with everything that’s been going on, I.  We. We haven’t had a chance to….”

“Go on that first date we never had?” Magnus supplied, hoping.

Alec’s face lit up, “Right, yes.”

“I know a place in Soho that has the best lamb kebab this side of Marrakech.  Or we could portal to Marrakech? You hungry?” Magnus suggested.

“Starving.” Alec responded, smiling.  He leaned in closer to Magnus, hoping to snag a kiss before they portaled away.

“Hey Alec,” Raj interrupted. “Demon briefing in the ops centre.  All hands on deck.”

“My dear Raj, you look well,” Magnus said, smugly. 

Turning back towards Alec and seeing the slight panic in his eyes, he said, “Rain check?”

“Yes, yeah.  Is that okay?”

“You go battle your demons, I’ll go battle mine,” he replied, hoping it might ease some of the worry in Alec’s face.  Alec’s panic was making him feel anxious too. 

“Thanks.” Alec smiled, leaning in and stealing a kiss before rushing off to the heart of the ops centre.

 

\--

 

Magnus sat on the balcony, sipping at his martini, trying to come to terms with what he had to do.  He knew Camille had to be turned over to the Clave.  He  _ knew _ that.  Yet every time he got the resolve to help Simon summon her, images flashed before his eyes of something she used to do.

Them smiling together, overlooking the waters of venice.

Her, talking him down from one of his more suicidal moments.

Them, after a wild night in bed together, cuddled up by a fire whispering sweet nothings in each others’ ears.

Yet just as easily, images of her and her abuse came to mind.

Walking in on her in bed with other men.

Over-reactions to simple problems.

Threats and lies said without a glimmer of remorse straight to Magnus’s face.

 

He couldn’t help feeling conflicted.

 

\--

 

Seeing Lydia attacking Raj was difficult to say the least.  Seeing the face of the woman who had allowed him to leave the altar, to kiss Magnus in front of the entire Clave, to walk away from a partnership for a chance at love.  Alec readied his arrows without hesitance and took aim at Raj.  

Knowing he should aim for non-vitals, he shot Raj in the leg, slowing him down.

As he watched the demon leave Raj’s body, he rushed to Lydia’s side, hoping to repay even a fraction of her kindness to him.  

 

\--

 

Magnus sat on the edge of the balcony until he had finished his 4th martini of the night.  With the alcohol in his bloodstream, summoning Camille might be almost possible.  He had come to the conclusion somewhere around martini 2 or maybe 3 that he needed to be alone to do this.  This was going to be one of the most painful things he had done in the last century or two.  

Downing the last of his drink, he ran through the more negative memories he had of Camille again.

Lies.  Deceit.  Abuse.  Torture.  Cheating.

The list went on and on through Magnus’s mind.  He placed a hand to his face, wiping away hot tears that he hadn’t noticed start to fall.  His vision blurred from the alcohol or the tears, he wasn’t sure which.  It didn’t matter.  

It was time to end this game of hers.

Stepping back towards the apartment, he magicked his makeup back into perfection, and straightened out his outfit.

 

\--

 

Alec searched the corridor for the demon that had possessed Raj.  He needed to find it before someone else was hurt.  He couldn’t help but feel painful emotions rising up every few moments, though he was unsure where they came from.  His best guess was that Jace was having his trial right then and was being tortured by Aldertree in some emotional way.  He just needed to power through it and get this demon taken care of.  

Turning the corner to the next hall, his vision went dark.

 

\--

 

“Choose me.” Camille stared straight into Magnus, compelling him to listen to her words.  

Magnus took a look at her, a look at his past, a look at the woman who had been there for him on that bridge.  He felt nothing but revulsion.  Raising his hand, he said, “Enjoy Idris. I hear the weather is lovely this time of year.” Immediately, he opened the portal, sending her and the cage away.  Camille said things that were swallowed by the whirl of the portal.

With one last look at where the cage had stood, Magnus turned away and cried.

 

\--

 

_ “We need to get out of here.  If we want any chance of keeping our standing, we need to leave.  Now.” Robert gripped Maryse’s arm, pulling her with him away from the hall. _

_ “I need to know.  Before it’s too late.  I need to know what he did to him.  I need to know that the Clave won’t hunt our son down.” Maryse ripped her arm out of her husband’s grasp.  Turning and running back into the Hall of the Accords, she barely made out his reply. _

_ “Don’t get caught.  Meet at the house in 1 hour.” _

 

_ Turning into the fray, she steeled herself against the onslaught on her senses.  Men, women, vampires, seelies, werewolves. So many dead, or dying, lay in front of her.  Some were crying, some were beyond that point, rocking back and forth.  She saw one warlock trying to use their magic to heal someone that looked like they had been ripped apart by a beast.  Maryse couldn’t tell what they had been originally, but as she looked at them, all she saw was torn muscle, blood, and bone.  She turned away from the sight. _

_ Running towards the sound of battle, she found the current battlefield to be just outside the hall.  Spotting Valentine fighting a seelie that looked about an inch from death, she ran his way. _

_ “Val.  I need to know - what exactly did you do to my son?  Will the Clave hunt him down for what you did?” she gasped at him when she reached his side. _

_ Stabbing the seelie one final time, he said, “I made him strong.  He has her purified blood running through his veins.  The Clave should be honored to stand in his presence.  My dear, he will be the greatest Shadowhunter to live.” _

_ “Who is she? Whose blood?” She knew they were running out of time.  She could see the circle falling around them.  The fighters on the other side were winning.  She needed to get out of there. _

_ “She who was created for Adam.  She who defied God himself.  She who creates that which we destroy.  The princess of Edom herself.  Purified by the Mortal Cup itself, it truly is divine.  Your son will be mighty.” _

_ Maryse felt herself go white.  Turning from the battlefield, she ran. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know about any errors or formatting issues you find!


	6. Need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little short, and kinda rushed feeling but Alec is a bit pressured and rushed too.

Alec arrived at Magnus’s place.  He didn’t want to think.  He just wanted to see Magnus.  Needed to see him even.  Knocking on the door, he stepped inside the entryway.  “Hello?  Magnus?”

“Alexander.  What a nice surprise.” Magnus stepped out, holding two drinks in hand.  “Drink?”

Alec grabbed a glass.  Stepping towards Magnus, he closed the distance and found his lips against Magnus’s.  Stepping back, he sipped his drink.  Wincing at the taste, he set it down on a nearby table.  

“While I enjoy seeing you here, is there an occasion?” Magnus questioned the shadowhunter.  

“Just.  Needed away from the institute.  I.. Let’s not talk about it.”  Alec lead Magnus into the living room area and seated them on a couch.

Pressing closer to Alec’s side, Magnus replied, “Alright.  No talking.  Shall we listen to music instead?”

Alec peered into Magnus’s eyes, making sure he was really okay with it.  After a moment, he nodded.

With a flick of his wrist, soft classical music wafted over them.  

They stayed together on the couch, just listening to music in comfortable silence together, until Alec got a text.  “I have to go.  Institute needs me.  I’ll be back.  Not sure when, but I’ll be back.”

“Go do your thing.”  Magnus kissed Alec quickly, before opening a portal for the shadowhunter.

“I… Thank you.” Alec smiled softly, pecking Magnus on the cheek.

 

\--

 

Magnus could feel Alec’s pain.  He didn’t know what was wrong per se, but something was eating at his shadowhunter.  Some slick little feeling of discontentment.  Like the world got darker all of a sudden and he didn’t know why.  Everything seemed semi-normal.  Alec was sitting next to him on the couch in the living room.  Granted, Alec had showed up on his balcony an hour prior visibly distressed, but once they had spoken and Magnus brought Alec inside, everything became like it usually is.  Except Alec didn’t smile as brightly at Magnus’s jokes.  Magnus himself couldn’t really bring himself to feel much himself, but with his lifetimes of experience, he’s able to help his own depression issues.  

“Alexander, are you hungry?  We could order in? Or we could portal to the little restaurant in Tokyo that you really liked?” Maybe food would lift Alec’s spirits.

 

\--

 

Magnus’s back hurt.  He was sitting at his desk, reading, when he got a massive twinge of pain.  Rubbing his back, he sat up straighter and set his book down.  “This stress must be getting to me.  Bath time,” he said to the empty room.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always let me know what you think, and tell me about any errors you find!


	7. Effort

Alec knocked on Magnus’s door.  After a moment, the door opened, revealing Magnus himself.  “Alec, come in.”

Alec stepped through the threshold and watched Magnus as he closed the door. “Hey.”

Leaning in for a kiss, Magnus closed his eyes.  After a short peck, he leaned back only to see Alec’s face fall. “What’s wrong, dear?”

Alec just leaned into Magnus for a hug.  Without having said anything, he sobbed into Magnus’s shoulder.

“Oh dear.  Okay, what happened?” Magnus held Alec at arm’s length for a moment, trying to coax an answer from his Shadowhunter.

“It.  Clary’s Mom.  We just finished the Rite of Mourning.” Alec wiped away his tears. “I’m sorry.  It affected me more than it should. I just… I can’t…” he trailed off, starting to cry again.

Magnus pulled him close again, hugging him tightly.  “Shhh. It’ll be okay,” was all Magnus could say, rubbing his boyfriend’s back soothingly.  “Let’s get you some tea, and then we can cuddle on the couch. How does that sound, hmm? Maybe that’ll help ease some of your burden.”  It pained Magnus to see Alec like this, so broken hearted.

Alec just nodded and followed Magnus to the couch.  “Please stay.”

“Of course.”

 

\--

 

Later, after Alec had already gone back to the Institute, he received a fire message from Magnus, asking him to come at once.  Panicked, Alec fled the Institute, trying to get to his boyfriend as quickly as possible.

Reaching the flat, he took the stairs two at a time, and shouldered the door open without knocking or announcing himself.  Any danger to Magnus couldn’t see him coming. Rounding the corner of the foyer, he found Magnus in his potions room, taking inventory.

“Magnus.  Your fire message…?” He panted out the words, exhausted from the travel. “What’s wrong?”

“Ah, Alexander.  Glad you’re here.  You owe me a date, and you haven’t taken a break.”

“We’re in the middle of a war.”  

“Yes.  And if you don’t take the time to remember why you’re fighting that war, what’s the point?”

“What do you have in mind?” Alec questioned Magnus.  After the adrenaline rush of trying to get to him only to find him fine after the fire message, Alec wanted to sit down.  But what Magnus was saying was true, he really could use a short break. 

Smiling, Magnus replied, “Come with me.  We can go on a date. Anywhere you want, though I will admit, I do wanna see if there is anything you do enjoy drinking.”

“I.  Okay.  Let’s do that.” Alec smiled.  “First...” He leaned in and kissed Magnus shortly, in thanks for setting this up. Pulling away, he said, “Let’s have our second date.”

 

\--

 

Alec thought he might be really falling for Magnus.  Everything about Magnus drew Alec in. The way Magnus’s eyes light up when he sees one of the stray cats has brought him a “gift”, and the smell on Magnus’s shirt during every hug.  The glitter trail Magnus left behind him even. 

Alec could stare into Magnus’s eyes for the rest of eternity it felt and never get bored.

So when Magnus said 17 and had been speaking in the thousands, Alec’s heart just about stopped.  He was only just accepting that sex might be something he might actually want to do, and here his sweet, caring boyfriend was telling him that he had slept with more people than a small town.  Alec simultaneously wanted to get out and never look back, and also reach out and hold Magnus’s hand and just marvel at the sheer vastness of his boyfriend’s experience.

“So… mm.  Magnus. I.” Alec was tripping over his words.  Taking a sip of whatever it was Magnus had ordered him and grimacing slightly, he tried again.  “Look, Magnus. We’re making the best of it, right? Let’s go do something else then. Get dinner, see a play… or something.  Just get out of this bar and… make the best of it?”

Magnus looked up from his hands and looked into Alec’s eyes.  Nodding, he turned towards his glass and downed the last of it before standing.  Holding out a hand towards Alec he said, “Making the best of it. Where to?”

 

\--

 

Magnus wasn’t sure where Alec would want to go.  After the conversation at the bar, he could understand the want to get away from there, but Magnus wasn’t sure where to begin with how little of the world Alec knew.  Movies were fine but didn’t really help with stilted conversation. He could play off of the competitive atmosphere from earlier and take him to something like an arcade or game of some sort, but Magnus didn’t want to be at odds with his date even if it was good natured.  Pausing, an idea formed in his head.

“One moment, I need to make a phone call.” He stepped away from the door that they had just exited to hear his phone better.  Calling Catarina, Magnus waited for her answer.

“Hello?”

“Catarina! My dear friend.  Would you be willing to do me a favor?”

 

\--

 

Stepping out of the portal, Alec looked around.  Magnus hadn’t said where they were headed, so he was curious as to what the chosen destination could be.  Seeing a few hundred people standing on the grass wasn’t quite what he expected.

Magnus stepped up besides him and touched his elbow. “This way, Alexander”

Alec let himself be led into the crowd.  Looking up at the stage, he could see that they were definitely at some sort of concert, though he didn’t recognise the band.  Something mundane then. When Magnus stopped, Alec looked his way. “Concert?”

“Music does the soul some good, especially live music.  Catarina picked the band.”

 

\--

 

They chatted quietly to each other about nothing in particular for awhile, until the first sounds of the band started.

Someone bumped into Alec, sending him towards the ground before he could react.

“Woah there Shadowhunter,” Magnus said, catching him.

“Thanks.  I don’t really go to these sorts of things usually.” Alec winced, hoping Magnus didn’t see that as a negative comment.  

Magnus just nodded and paid attention to the stage again.

Looking towards the stage himself, Alec tried to pay attention to what the person was saying.  He felt a moment later Magnus reaching over and linking their hands together. Looking back at Magnus, he fought a smile.

 

\--

 

They stayed like that for most of the band’s set.  Alec had to admit that the band wasn’t terrible. Catarina must have good taste.  Before the next song began, the singer spoke to the crowd, drawing Alec's attention.  Tuning into what the singer said, he heard, “I want you to think about someone you care about right now.  I want you to think about them and never let them go. I don’t care who they are, or what happens later, just if they are who you think of right now, you gotta promise me that you’ll hang onto them.  Because nothing in the world matters more than the people we care about.”

Alec tried not to blush when they said that, because the first person in his head was Magnus.  Of course he thought about Izzy and Jace too, but who can blame him when Magnus is only inches away from him that he would come to mind first.

Looking over at Magnus, he dipped his head down and rested it on Magnus’s shoulder.  It wasn’t the most comfortable position but he hoped it would show some of what he couldn’t make himself say.  

The first few bars of the song had started and Alec could tell it was definitely some kind of slower love song.  He was almost too afraid to turn to Magnus, knowing that they were possibly still on thin ice, but all he wanted to do was get closer.

Turning his body into Magnus’s, he breathed in Magnus’s scent from his neck.  Magnus wound his arms around Alec’s and they stood there for a moment, just holding one another.  

When the chorus of the song played again, Magnus’s hips started swaying, moving Alec into a sort of swaying dance.

They swayed together until the end of the song, and the band started back into their normal set.  Still holding Alec close, Magnus adjusted their position to be better for dancing. 

Magnus started to actually dance, pulling Alec into the movements with him, not really giving him a choice.  Laughing, Alec tried his best to follow Magnus’s feet but kept screwing up the movements.    
“I don’t think I’m very good at this,” Alec stated after stepping on Magnus’s feet for the 6th time.

Magnus didn’t respond, he just continued dancing alone.  

Alec watched as Magnus danced around him.  He loved watching the way Magnus moved. It was like Magnus was full of pure joy and was channeling it straight into his hips.  Also, Alec couldn’t help but notice just how smoothly Magnus’s hips rolled, and that sent tingles running down Alec’s spine every time Magnus did it.  

Magnus stepped into Alec’s personal space, running his hand up Alec’s arm.

“You are doing just fine, my dear,”  Magnus breathed into Alec’s ear, causing him to blush.

Grabbing Magnus’s other hand, Alec squeezed, a reassuring gesture he hoped.

“Let’s head out.  I’m getting tired and since I was somewhat whisked away, I really should get back to the institute some time.”

 

\--

 

Arriving back at Magnus’s flat, the mood between them had lost some of the calm it had.  Growing more towards how it felt back at the bar.

“You barely said a word the whole way home.” Alec could tell Magnus was feeling insecure right then.  Alec had to admit, so was he.

“Magus. Do you think… maybe… we’re too…” he trailed off, unsure as to what he really wanted to say.  On one hand, he knew he was falling for Magnus, hard. On the other, the sheer experience Magnus had, coupled with their differences in almost every way, was intimidating to say the least.

“Different?”

Alec sighed.  “Yeah”.

“We’re from totally different worlds.”

“Different centuries.” Every word spoke truth, yet hurt to say.  “Look, I should. Get back to the Institute.” Alec turned and started to walk out.  

Stepping into the foyer, Alec stopped for a moment.  He knew Magnus wasn’t going to chase him, wasn’t going to try to change his mind if he walked out.  And that’s what this would be, walking out. Walking out on not just the apartment, but Magnus himself, on their relationship, on whatever it was they had together.  He couldn’t decide which hurt worse at the moment, the idea of walking out on that, or the possibility that one day it would be Magnus walking out instead.

Turning back, he said, “Look, I don’t care how many people you’ve been with.”  Just saying those words lifted a lot of weight off his shoulders, but looking back at Magnus, he was anxious about his response.

“I don’t care how many people you haven’t been with.”  The look in Magnus’s eyes was serious, and lifted the last of the weight.  

Unable to think about anything else, Alec leaned in to kiss Magnus.  He swore the kiss was meant to be short and simple, just something to say, “I’m here.  I’m with you. Don’t leave.” But, he found himself kissing with more passion, more emotion.  It felt like a light was being turned on in his chest that grew brighter with every moment they kissed.  The short kiss turned into something longer, slower, more emotional. Shifted from, “I’m here, don’t go,” to, “I want this.  I want you. I might love you,” which both excited and terrified Alec. 

Pulling back, he roughly said, “Relationships.  I hear they...” He cleared his throat. “...take effort.”

“I’m all for effort.” Alec thought he might collapse into Magnus’s arms with the relief he felt hearing that.  He was just about to lean back in to capture his lips again, more roughly this time, when the door opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who knew that 20k people is a 'large town' (or occassionally a 'small city') but a regular 'town' is considered 2-19k people. Not me until I did the research for this chapter. Some examples of cities with 17k people are: Kuwait, Kuwait and Yellowknife, Canada


	8. A Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt bad for the long wait between my uploading of chapters so figured I'd upload 2 at once. This semester really killed my free time, but now it's summer so i should be uploading the rest of this fairly soon. Just have one more chapter to fully edit.  
> Actual chapter notes:  
> This chapter is where things have to switch around a lot to fit the story. Much much less canon is gonna be happening, but for this chapter's sake just think of it as season 2 episode 7 and episode 8 switch places.

Max came running around the corner into the ops center, hugging Izzy.  “Hey, Max! I missed you so much! What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Max!” Alec added, also wondering what his brother was doing back in the Institute.  Just then, Maryse rounded the same corner.

“Alec, Isabelle. It’s good to see you both.  Max has some big news. Tell them, sweetheart.” She leaned down to encourage her youngest.

“I passed my last trial.  I’m ready for my rune ceremony,” he said excitedly.

“Congratulations,” Alec responded, smiling.

“So you finally perfected your roundhouse kick?” Izzy questioned their brother.

“Yeah, and I knocked out two different instructors.”

“Sadly, your father won’t be able to attend,” Maryse added, standing up straighter. “So, Alec, as the eldest male of the family, you will be in charge of Max’s ceremonial party.”

“What do you mean he won’t be here?” Alec couldn’t understand why their father wouldn’t be coming to Max’s rune ceremony.  It was a major milestone for any young shadowhunter. As a parent, to miss it should have been a grave offense.

“He’s tied up with the Valentine task force in Idris.”

“I can’t believe Dad would miss this,” Izzy said, downtrodden.

“He doesn’t have a choice. We’re all on high alert, especially after what that demon did to both of you and Jocelyn.”

Maryse and Izzy stepped away to continue talking, while Alec and Max stepped further into the command center.  “I bet you wish you were back in Idris,” Alec said to Max, commenting on their mother’s disposition.

“I thought I was coming here to get away from the fighting.”

“Fighting?  Mom and Dad?” Alec knew his parents didn’t have the best relationship sometimes, but fighting enough that Max would mention it? That was new.

“All the time.”

“What’s going on?”

“Mom doesn’t like you having a warlock boyfriend, and I think Dad did something but they never mention what.”

Alec just nodded.  “And you? What do you think?”  He hoped he wouldn’t lose his brother over Magnus.

“Whatever, I don’t care.  As long as you don’t fight.”

“Well then, I should get to planning your party, shouldn’t I?” Alec picked up Max and spun him around once.  “And I know someone who loves parties.” 

 

\--

 

Max’s party went off without a hitch.  Maryse did have some very interesting ideas of what to give Magnus as a gift, and appropriate responses, but overall it could have been much worse, considering.  Alec spoke some with his mother after Magnus had stepped away to the bar and tried to swing things back around.

“Mother.  Remember, this party is for Max.  Let’s just keep the comments to a minimum, possibly?”

“You’re right.  I’m sorry. I just.  Some memories are best forgotten.  Let’s get some food, hmm? Max?” She leaned down to ask that final question.  “I’m sure the food is delicious.”

Nodding to his mother, Alec stepped away to go find Magnus again.

 

\--

 

“Magnus.” Alec stepped behind his boyfriend, placing his hands on Magnus’s waist.

“Hmm?” Magnus leaned back into Alec’s touch.

“Sorry about my mother.”  Alec kissed Magnus’s neck. “She’s just… I don’t know.” He shrugged.

“It’s quite alright, dear.  I did know what inviting Maryse Lightwood into my home might mean, and so far it could have been much worse.” Magnus turned around in Alec’s arms, holding two glasses.  “I should get these drinks to them, and give Max the gift I got him. Shall we?”

 

\--

 

Stepping out onto the balcony into the cool night air, Alec was happy to be away from the crowd for this.  “Mother. Max. Magnus has something for you.”

“How kind,” Maryse responded, placing one hand on Max’s shoulders.

 

\--

 

Between Max asking to see Magnus’s warlock mark, and Max and Jace being at odds, it was a wonder that Magnus didn’t walk away.  After speaking with his mother about Max’s behavior and Jace, Alec turned towards Magnus. 

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.” Magnus stood a bit away from Alec, sipping his drink.

“I feel like I keep apologising for my family, but I’m sorry about Max.” Alec stepped a little closer to Magnus, not quite in his personal space but nearly.

“Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree sometimes.” Magnus downed the last of his drink, looking out at the city.

“Still.  I’m sorry.  You shouldn’t have been forced to show your warlock mark like that.” Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus’s waist, lining their hips together and swaying a little.  Closing his eyes, he put his head on Magnus’s shoulder and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. “Don’t worry so much,” he said against Magnus’s skin after feeling how tense Magnus’s shoulders were. 

Turning around, Magnus said, “I’m fine… Did you… see my mark?” 

At that, Alec could feel Magnus get nervous, like it was some big secret that he was a warlock or something.  “Your eyes, yeah? I didn’t get a good look from where I was, but they what? Changed colors?” 

“...Yeah.  You’re not freaked out?”

“Magnus.  Why would I be freaked out about it?  You’re a warlock, I’ve known this. Of course you have a warlock mark.”

Magnus smiled and pulled Alec closer. “Yeah.  I guess so.” 

 

\--

 

The rest of the party was a blur of emotion for Alec.  He could remember Clary blaming him for her mother, and he could remember standing on that balcony, ready to jump.  He remembered the short fall before Magnus saved him, though he didn’t remember being saved. He did, however, remember waking up safely on the balcony with everyone crowded around him and Magnus looking like he had stabbed a puppy.  

This kept moving in a whirl the rest of the night.  People fighting, searching for a warlock, some revelation Clary gave... it all seemed to just blow past Alec, like he couldn’t focus on what was really going on.  It only really cleared the next day, after he got some proper sleep in Magnus’s bed.

 

\--

 

After Max’s rune ceremony, Alec and Jace were speaking in the hallway when Maryse came over. “I don’t need any more apologies.  I’m the one who messed up and I’m sorry for that. I hope you can forgive me. Both of you. I have been out of line for some time now, and now it’s carrying over to Max.”

“Yeah, well, Max is still young.  Impressionable,” Jace responded, hopeful. “You still have the chance to steer him straight.”

Alec stepped closer, wanting to clear up some more information. “Max says you and Dad have been fighting.  About me and Magnus? Something else?”

“Max doesn’t have any idea what’s going on between your father and me.”

“Then what is it?” Alec was tired of working on rumor and suspicion alone.  If something was wrong with his parents, he wanted to know. Now.

“I… didn’t want to burden you all...” Maryse trailed off.

“Is Dad cheating on you?” 

“I… He and I made the decision to separate romantically some time ago.  We didn’t want to break this family apart, so we didn’t say anything to you.  But, our divorce finalised last month, and with everything going on with Valentine and Max’s ceremony, I just… put off announcing it.”

Alec and Jace both reached for her at the same time, effectively crushing their mother in a hug simultaneously.

“Mom.  I had no idea.” Alec was a bit struck that his mother had hid something like this from all of them.

“How long?  You said you had been separated for awhile, but how long is that?”

“We first separated before Max was born, but when we found out I was pregnant we decided to stay together for him.  We separated again maybe 4 years ago? Certain things have happened though, and actually I have an announcement to make.  We should get everyone together for it.”

 

\--

 

Gathering everyone was pretty quick. Most people were in the ops room trying to cover the Valentine investigation as it was.  Getting the rest didn’t take very long from there. Alec filled Izzy in on the situation on the way once he had found her.

Maryse turned towards the crowd in front of her. “I have an announcement to make.  My children already know this. Firstly, Robert and I have divorced. This was a long time coming and was no light undertaking.  What this will mean is that both Robert and I will no longer be eligible to run this Institute. I understand that currently the helm is taken up by Aldertree, but I felt you should know that we will not be taking back our places as Head of the Institute.”

Alec watched Maryse speak, knowing that she still had more to say than just the divorce, yet unable to think what else could possibly need announcing.

“I have one more piece of news for tonight.  It may seem soon to many of you, but in a show of solidarity with both the downworld and my son, I will be remarrying.  The man could not be here tonight with the current ban on downworlders in the Institute, but many of you already know him.  I am to marry Lucian Greymark, better known nowadays as Luke Garroway. That is all, please return to your stations.”

Maryse stepped down from the stairs towards her children.

“Mom!  I can’t believe you hid your divorce from us!  Also, you’re getting married?” Izzy just about screamed.

“Yes, dear.  It’s politically motivated, but Lucian and I have known each other since before Alec was born.”

“When is the wedding scheduled for?” Alec inquired.

“Two days from now.  We felt it was best to get it over with, with Valentine on the loose.”

“Two days?  We have to start planning!  Are we doing a white or gold dress?  Wait, which traditions do we use?” Izzy was about to burst with excitement and started ushering their mother into one of the empty rooms nearby to discuss the plans.

 

\--

 

The next two days were a rush of wedding preparation and searching for Valentine.  There had been some new leads as to his current location from a recent attack on some werewolves Luke knew, so Alec had been busy with following up on those with Jace and Clary.  

With the wedding just hours away, Alec was certainly nervous.  Magnus would be there with him which both calmed him and made the anxiety worse.  On one hand Magnus always helped Alec’s anxiety. On the other, this was the first big family event Magnus would be at exclusively as his date in front of the Clave members and Institute.  The fact that it was a marriage between his mother and a downworlder didn’t really ease his mind either.

“Alec, would you sit still?  I need to get this bow perfect.” Izzy was straightening Alec’s bowtie for him.  

“Sorry.  Just a bit nervous, I guess.”  Alec shrugged, trying to loosen his shoulders a bit.

“Oh, Alec.  You should be excited!  Our mother is getting married!  And to Luke! You know he’ll treat her well.” Izzy seemed to be taking everything about the situation in stride, which is more than most people were.  There was a lot of talk going around the Institute about her and the divorce and subsequent wedding, most of it not good.

“I am happy for her.  I just worry about all of the attention it’s bringing.  You can’t have missed the whispering.”

“Don’t worry so much Alec.  It’s a wedding! Besides, you should be worrying about how you’ll stay standing when you see the outfit Magnus picked out for tonight. I’ve heard it’s absolutely amazing.”

Alec just shrugged off her comment.

“There, perfect.  Now go help Jace get ready, too.”  Izzy turned to her mirror and started fixing her makeup, shooing Alec from the room.

 

\--

 

Walking into Jace’s room ended up more tense than Alec was expecting.  He had expected Jace worrying about his outfit, or Clary being… Clary. Instead, he got Jace looking at him extremely worried and Clary... well, still being Clary, and rushing up to him saying something so hurried he didn’t hear her.

“Huh? What’s going on guys?” 

“IthinkIfiguredoutsomethingimportantforthefightagainstvalentinebutwe’dneedtotestit.” Clary almost tripped over her own words in her rush to get them out.

“What was that about Valentine?  Jace?” 

“Clary, breathe.  Alec, Clary thinks she has something that can help us fight Valentine, but it’s… experimental, and I’m not sure I trust it,” Jace clarified Clary’s previous revelation, wrapping an arm around Clary to get her to calm down some.

“What is it?” They could use all the help they could get in regards to Valentine, though not if major risks were involved.

“A rune.  It goes on two people, sort of like your parabatai bond I think, but one person is a downworlder.  I think it should let you share power between each other?” Clary seemed so excited about this rune idea she had, but a rune on a downworlder? Alec had only ever heard of what happens to downworlders who get runes forced onto them, and it’s not pretty.

“Downworlders can’t have runes put on them.  It doesn’t work and hurts them a lot. Trust me, it’s not something we want to see, and we’ve tried every rune there is.” Alec was almost disappointed that Clary’s idea wouldn’t actually help, but not surprised.

“Alec.  It’s not one in the system.  It’s another one of her weird angel runes.”

“I think we just need to test it on someone willing.  If I could find someone who would let me try it, I could prove to you that I’m not making this up,” Clary whined, shrugging off Jace’s arm.

“Look, Clary.  Let’s get this wedding over with and then discuss it some more, okay?” Jace suggested, seeing the clock.

Alec and Clary nodded before heading out the door.

 

\--

 

The wedding hall was absolutely beautiful.  Pink satin drapes hung from the ceiling, and draped down towards the floor in elegant curves.  Hundreds of small flowers were around the room, and attached to every piece of furniture in sight.  Alec stepped into the hall to take his seat in the front row. Maryse was having Izzy as her maid of honor, so Alec was to sit with the rest of the family.  

Sitting on the red chiffon covered chair, Alec looked around to find everyone else.  Clary stood in the entrance to the room talking to Simon. This was one of the few times where downworlders were allowed into the Institute recently, with Aldertree still in charge, and Alec was almost surprised to see the annoying vampire, before he remembered that of course the downworlders would be there.  

Jace stood near the dais talking to Maia, who was Luke’s best woman.  He could also see Izzy talking to Raphael and a couple shadowhunters near the center of the room.  Lastly, he saw Luke standing near the front of the room, adjusting his tie in the reflection of the centerpiece of the dais.

Alec honestly couldn’t wait until Magnus got there so he would feel more at ease and have some company that wasn’t already in a conversation, or more nervous than he was.

Alec was just about to get up to go make sure Luke wasn’t freaking out too badly, when he heard the main doors open.  Turning towards the sound, the bottom of his stomach dropped out.

Standing in the doorway, in a similar fashion to Alec’s own wedding, stood Magnus.  

Alec hadn’t known what to expect, Izzy’s comment notwithstanding, but what he saw wasn’t it.  Magnus had walked in wearing some sort of men’s dress. It was definitely asiatic, with its brocade trim on white fabric.  The red scarf just made it look like he was meant to be in the room, matching the color of the chair coverings. Alec bet Izzy had something to do with that.  It certainly showed off everything just right, and the room seemed to fade away as Alec stared at his boyfriend.

Alec shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable.  Momentarily he regretted how tight his outfit was before casting the thought aside.  

Magnus smirked at him, quirking his lips with a matching eyebrow arch.  Magnus took a few steps towards Alec’s seat, noticeably swinging his hips in a way that Alec couldn’t ignore.

Izzy stopped Magnus, saying something that Alec couldn’t hear.  He watched Magnus reply, before turning back to his route to Alec.  

Alec almost had to force himself to look away, enraptured with Magnus as he was.  Closing his eyes for a moment to breathe, he tried to get himself under control. Alec just wanted to get through this wedding intact, and with minimal embarrassment, yet there he sat, hard as hell, at his mother’s wedding.  Opening his eyes, he saw Magnus was even closer now, stepping around a chair to get to him. 

Magnus had a look in his eyes that screamed how good he knew he looked, and he owned it.  Coming up behind Alec’s chair, he ran a finger along his shoulder lightly. Leaning down he whispered in Alec’s ear, “Like what you see?”

Alec almost shuddered, suppressing the motion at the last moment mindful of their location. “Magnus,” he breathed. “Yes.  By the Angel, Magnus. You look amazing in that.”

“Thank you Alexander.  You sister helped pick the colors, but it was my idea overall.  The style is popular where I’m from for weddings.” Magnus almost glowed, knowing how his outfit choice affected Alec.

“I… wow.  Magnus. If they are half as good looking as you are right now, I don’t know how anyone gets through a ceremony.”  Alec honestly wasn’t sure how he would get through this ceremony with Magnus at his side looking like walking sex.

Magnus chuckled before sitting down next to Alec.  “Well, let’s get this wedding over with so we can eat.”

Alec just nodded, turning his attention anywhere that wasn’t Magnus’s body or outfit.

 

\--

 

The wedding was simple enough, a mixture of shadowhunter and werewolf traditions.  They couldn’t mark each other with the wedded union rune of course, but werewolves used rings like mundanes to show their bond.  Following the official ceremony, they had a short handfasting done by a warlock to make it a formal marriage bond since neither werewolf or shadowhunter bonds could be performed on the two together.  

Alec stepped close to his mother, who stood on the bottom step of the dais. “Congratulations, Mother.”

“Thank you, Alec.  Have you seen your sister?  I had something to ask her,” Maryse questioned.

Pointing her in the direction he last saw Izzy go, he followed his mother with Magnus close at his side.

“Izzy, there you are. Thank you for everything you did to prepare this wedding for us.”  Maryse paused, looking at Izzy, who had been in a somewhat heated looking conversation with Raphael. “I know that everything was very fast for you, but you really pulled through for me here.”

Izzy looked between Maryse and Raphael for a moment before turning and speed walking away from them and out into the hallway.

“Izzy!” Maryse called after her, moving to follow.

Alec placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll go.  You go find your husband, make the rounds.”

Turning to Magnus, he said, “Come on, let’s see what’s wrong,” before turning to follow his sister.

 

\--

 

“Izzy! Hey, wait up.” Alec jogged over to where Izzy was in the hallway, crying. “Hey, Izzy, what’s wrong?” he said softly.

“I can’t do it Alec.  I can’t just stand there and be happy anymore.  Our parents got divorced and didn’t even tell us, and now our mother is married again already and they expect us to keep up a brave face. I can’t do it.”

Alec wrapped his arms around his sister and Magnus spoke, “Isabelle, no one is asking you to be happy about this right now.  Let it out and cry. It’s okay.”

“I just.  I wanted to make everything okay.  I thought I could do it.”

“It’s okay, Izzy.  It’s okay. Just breathe.” Alec could feel Izzy shaking through her sobs.

Just as Izzy started to calm down, they heard a crash from inside the wedding hall, followed by screams.

 

\--

 

Rushing into the room, the three of them were surrounded by chaos.  There were shax demons everywhere, and people screaming and panicking.  A few of the werewolves had transformed and the vampires were doing their best to use their speed to get people out of the room, but with no one carrying weapons to the wedding the room was more mayhem than anything.  

“Izzy, get Mom out of here,” Alec called to his sister, knowing she would hear him and obey.  He turned to Magnus and hurriedly said, “What can you do to help? We need to contain this to just this room and get the people out as fast as we can.” He swore under his breath, looking at all the people already lying on the floor, injured.  “And fast.”

Magnus raised a hand and did some sort of magic that seemed to sweep over everyone.  The noise quieted down as people realised that a ward had been placed over the room, keeping them in.  “It should let shadowhunters in and out, but no one else. My magic can’t differentiate between the demons and those with their blood with something this strong.  Get to work clearing the room and getting back up in here, I’ll hold the doorways.” 

Just then Alec saw a glimmering in the corner of his eye.  Turning towards it he saw Clary and Simon in the center of the glow, seemingly emanating from the two of them.  For a moment, he was blinded by the light before everything faded back to their normal levels. Then, Clary was gone.

He turned, searching the room, and found her in another corner helping someone up and into Raphael’s arms to be led out to the edge of the ward.  Wondering what the hell Clary just did, he almost turned to confront her before remembering the demons that needed immediate attention.

Izzy thankfully showed up a moment later carrying about 5 angel blades.

After that, killing off the demons was quick work for them all.  Magnus keeping the demons confined to smaller and smaller areas as he shifted the wards to contain them definitely helped the shadowhunters, though the downworlders were certainly difficult to work around at times, being forced into the same ward space as the demons.  Clary randomly appearing everywhere also seemed to keep happening, which both helped and hindered along the way at times.

 

\--

 

After the battle was over and shadowhunters were assigned to clear up the hall, Alec went to confront Clary about what he saw in the room.  Grabbing Jace, Maryse, Luke, Magnus, and Izzy, he headed towards the ops center where he knew Clary was supposed to be.

“Fray.  A word?” Alec called over to her, who was talking animatedly to Simon.

Both walked over and Clary had a smirk on her face.  “Yes?”

“Mind telling us what that was in there?  First you were glowing, then you were across the room in the blink of an eye.”

Simon almost jumped he seemed so excited “I know! It was like she was teleporting.  My powers are so cool from the outside!”

“Your powers?” Alec didn’t like where this was going.

Clary just held out her wrist towards them.  “I did the rune. It worked! I’m calling it the Alliance Rune since it makes alliances between everyone.” Clary’s smirk only got bolder.

Jace just about blew up at her. “Clary! I thought we discussed waiting to do anything with that.  You could have died!” 

At that Luke chimed in. “Clary.  Is this true? You used a rune you don’t know, endangering yourself and Simon?”

“When you put it that way, yeah.  But I knew it would work. When has the angel’s runes not worked before?” Clary said. “Now we can use it in the fight against Valentine, since we know it works.  Look, Simon even has my power,” she said, putting an angel blade in Simon’s hands and watching it light up. “He can even draw runes, though he’s not very good at them.” She turned her wrist over, revealing a crudely drawn iratze.

They dropped the subject when Jace just shook his head and hugged Clary.  “Thank the angel you’re okay, then.” He glared at Simon and said, “Also thank the angel your art skills didn’t kill her.  I still need my sister.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magnus's outfit inspiration: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3uFRdApxSG0/U33BerWeMXI/AAAAAAAAPcg/NAOb9bbgGQg/s1600/Men-Groom-Dresses-2014-and-Men-Sherwani-Designs-2014-funfashion1.com+17.jpg


	9. Alliance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright everyone! This is where the most canon divergence began, and also features the most explicit material of the fic. Please thank the lovely infiniteworld8 for the smut as they wrote the majority of it following my template. They really has a knack for that.
> 
> Due to our slightly differing writing styles, the formatting was very off on this chapter. I ran it through an auto formatter I wrote, but please, let me know if you see anything wrong. I had some issues due to the encoding and I'm sure I missed some edge cases.

With Jace still staying at Magnus's, only having been allowed in the Institute for the wedding, Alec's next few days were. frustrating, to say the least.

  
Every moment Alec wasn't on patrol or helping try to follow up on the leads to Valentine, he spent with Magnus. They had a lovely dinner on the terrace the night of the wedding, and Magnus made him breakfast in bed the next day.

They went on a date the day after that, followed by a very satisfying make out session on the couch in the living room. Following that was two more days of languid mornings and passionate kissing every chance they got. Yet, every time things started to heat up, something happened.

  
Dinner was cut short for a red alert at the Institute. Breakfast, Jace walked in to complain about something. Their date had been lovely but Magnus had pulled away during the make out with some excuse about needing to be up early so why don't they head to bed, hmm? Which was fair, but Alec's body very much disliked the idea. Then, the last few days, there was always something that seemed to pull them apart unexpectedly. Usually, it was Jace coming home with some random girl in tow.

So Alec was frustrated. He wasn't even sure what he wanted fully, but it was definitely more than what he was getting. If he wanted some more alone time with his boyfriend, who could really blame him?

  
Yet, with Valentine getting closer, and Jace still under scrutiny, and Clary constantly getting herself in trouble, Alec could barely find the time to breathe, let alone make the trek to Magnus's and spend time with him.  
So when he got a text saying to be back at the Institute immediately, interrupting them again, he was a little pissed.

  
"Damn it. I need to go," he told Magnus, regrettably.

 

"Go do your job Shadowhunter. I'm not going anywhere."

  
Alec went to stand, but turned back at the last second to steal a kiss. "I'll be back. I'll text you?" He really hoped whatever the Institute needed wouldn't take too long.

  
"Go do your job. I'll open a portal for you when you're done? I want you back here as soon as I can have you." Magnus almost purred into his lips, then stole one more kiss before Alec left.

 

\--

Walking into the Institute, everything was frenzied and chaotic. Grabbing someone, Alec asked, "Hey. What's going on? I just got here."

  
"Something about Valentine. I'm not entirely sure, but you should get to the Ops Center. Your family is there," the random shadowhunter replied.

  
Alec immediately took off to find them.

  
"Alec! There you are. Something is going on with Valentine." Izzy grabbed Alec by the arm and pulled him towards the rest of them.

  
"Alec, you're here. Good. Clary can start now," Aldertree said, motioning for Clary to begin.

  
"I can't explain to you how I know right now, but Valentine has an angel. The angel I'm tied to by blood, actually. He. called out to me for help. Gave me a location. We need to go before Valentine moves on or does something drastic."

  
Conversation erupted around them, arguing it over. Eventually, it was decided that Clary might not be wrong and that they should at least check it out. Knowing that it was very likely a trap, they started discussing what provisions they should take. After texting Jace and Magnus about the situation, Alec tuned in to the current iteration of talks.

  
"We need at least 3 teams. Preferably 4 or 5."

  
"We need to get the Clave to approve this. They'll send in troops I bet."

  
"You know we don't have the time for any of that. We need to get on top of this and fast."

  
"We can't just go waltzing up to the place unprepared, either!"

 

"We could ask a warlock to cloak us or something?"

  
"Guys, I have an idea," Clary jumped into the conversation. "We could use my alliance rune and fight with the downworlders. We need the manpower, don't have the time to get troops from the Clave, and we know it works."

  
"Clary, it's dangerous."

  
"You expect to go on an unsanctioned mission, using non-Clave approved runes, based on something an angel magically told you and can't verify?" Aldertree was about ready to explode based on the color of his face.

  
"Guys, you know it's one of our only real options right now," Izzy butt in.

 

"Clary, you can guarantee that it will work?" Alec asked.

  
"I'm certain of it," Clary responded, turning towards him.

  
"Clary's right. We need to get on top of this, right now if we have any chance. It's our most solid lead in days. If she says this rune will work, we could use all the help we can get," Alec announced, looking towards Maryse who nodded her assent.

  
After that, everyone just sort of agreed and started preparing.

  
"Magnus and Jace will be portalling out front in a few minutes. Their help will be useful in this fight. No one objects, right?" Alec stared down Aldertree, daring him to object.

  
"I'm still the leader of this Institute, but they can accompany this mission. I'm keeping them under a watchful eye, though," was all he had to say before he turned and left.

 

\--

Everyone was pairing up with downworlders in the room as they waited to be runed. Alec watched Izzy and Raphael get their runes and glow, followed by Clary and Simon again. Seeing Jace and Maia paired was a small shock, but not too surprising once Alec thought about it. Next was to be his mother and Luke, followed by himself and Magnus.

  
Maryse and Luke held hands as Clary drew the rune on Maryse. She immediately began to start glowing like everyone else had, but then Clary started drawing the rune on Luke. Maryse's glow immediately dimmed and Luke didn't glow either.

  
"Guys? That's different. Why aren't they glowing blindly like the rest of us did?" Simon asked, stating the obvious questions as usual.

  
"I'm not sure. I drew them right. Let me look?" Clary grabbed Maryse's arm to check the rune. "Okay, I did just draw it here, right?" she asked.

  
"Yes, we all watched you. Why?" Luke said, worried.

  
"It's gone. There isn't a rune on her there," Clary said.

  
"What do you mean there isn't a rune?" Izzy asked.

  
"Look, no rune." Clary turned Maryse's arm over to show everyone, and there clearly was no rune.

  
"Try it again? Maybe something went wrong?" Maryse asked.

  
"Okay." Clary switched to drawing it on Maryse's upper bicep, closer to the heart and in full view of everyone's watchful gaze.

  
Maryse started glowing again, but just as before as soon as Clary drew an identical rune on Luke the glow dimmed and the rune faded away.

  
"I don't understand. Why isn't this working?" Clary whined.

  
"How do these runes work again, Clary? Could you explain them?" Magnus asked.

  
"Think of a parabatai bond. It binds the two together and lets them share everything: powers, feelings... everything. Only differences are that the rune fades away after a day or so, and the most obvious being that one must be a shadowhunter and one must be a downworlder," Clary explained.

  
"Ah, well that may explain it, then," Magnus said. "They already have one soul bond - their marriage. Their souls can only be bound by one bond to the same person at a time. If their souls are already one entity, how can they be brought together a second time? It's one of the reasons parabatai can't have a romantic tie between them - the possibility for marriage would never be there. In addition to all of the other reasons."

  
Maryse nodded. "Why didn't I think of that? Of course."

  
"Well, we'll get Alec and Magnus bonded while you two go find new people to bond with?" Clary said, motioning towards the large gathering of people trying to find partners.

  
"Biscuit, let's begin," Magnus said, stepping forward and grabbing Alec's hands.

 

Smiling, Alec raised one of Magnus's hands and kissed the knuckles. "Agreed. We need to get this done with and get going."

  
Clary began drawing the rune on Alec immediately, who of course started to glow.

  
"Beautiful," Magnus murmured, just loud enough for Alec to hear but no one else.

  
Then, Clary started the rune on Magnus, but though Alec prepared for the blinding light he was surprised when the glow just dimmed immediately too.

  
"What the hell, Fray? Magnus and I aren't married or bonded at all." Alec just wanted this over with.

  
"Maybe it's your relationship? Magnus did just say it was one of the reasons parabatai couldn't be romantic. Maybe this rune is more picky about things?" Clary guessed.

  
"Well, at least our dilemma of finding them new partners is solved?" Simon said, looking towards Maryse and Luke who hadn't found anyone not already with a partner yet.

  
"Oh boy. Bonding with Maryse Lightwood. Yipee," Magnus said, dripping with sarcasm.

  
"I guess. Let's just get this over with," Alec said.

  
The new arrangements worked fine, and the four of them were finally bonded, just like everyone else.

  
"Well, let's go get this angel," Alec said.

 

\--

Their mission went about as expected. Valentine got away, there were minimal casualties, and Clary and Jace claimed the angel was released but couldn't prove its existence still. Alec couldn't possibly say he was surprised.

  
Shooting a text to Izzy, he headed towards the Ops center, hoping she'd be there by the time he got there.

  
"Hey, big brother. Your message said you wanted to talk?"

  
Alec leaned down, resting his elbows on the table.

  
"Did you have a lead on where Valentine went?" she asked.

  
"No. Not yet." Alec licked his lips, nervous.

  
"Then what is it?"

  
"It's about Magnus."

  
Izzy's face fell, worried for her brother.

  
Before she could say anything, Alec continued, "Look, um." Alec looked around for a second, making sure no one would overhear them. "How do you know. in your experience. when's the. uh. right time?"

 

Izzy's face lit up. "Oh my God. Are you talking about having sex?"

  
"Can you not discuss my sex life to the entire Institute, please?" he said, looking around to make sure no one heard her.

  
Izzy's face hardened as she said seriously, "Alec, is this your first time with a man?"

  
Alec just looked at her, trying to convey what he couldn't make himself admit out loud to his sister.

  
"You're first time ever?" Her face got much softer. "It all makes sense now."

  
"Are you done?" Alec was firmly regretting coming to Izzy about this.

  
"Look, you and Magnus." Izzy face sobered immediately as she spoke. "You want to..." she trailed off.

  
"I think so. I don't know," he admitted.

  
"Alec, you care about Magnus. He cares about you. It's okay. Just don't do what you always do."

  
"And what's that?" Alec determinedly wasn't looking at his sister at this point.

  
"Overthink it. Like you're doing now."

  
"No, I don't overthink things. Do I?" Alec really wasn't sure at this point. About anything. This entire thing was making his brain spin, and his stomach do flips.

  
"Look, if it's what you want, if it makes you happy, then go for it."

  
Alec wasn't sure how to respond. He knew what he wanted, or well, he was pretty sure he knew what he wanted, but he was definitely overthinking things. Conflicted still, he waved at Izzy before turning to leave, figuring he'd figure things out once he saw Magnus.

 

\--

Knocking on Magnus's door, Alec stood there, anxious. After a few moments, Magnus opened the door.

  
"Hello, Alexander."

  
Alec pressed past Magus, entering the apartment. "Hey Magnus, Jace here?" Alec glanced behind Magnus, trying to see if the coast was clear.

  
"No, he left awhil-" Magnus didn't finish replying before Alec pulled him closer by the front of his shirt. Magnus was surprised and started to pull away but Alec gripped him tighter, his fingers digging into Magnus's arms so hard he was sure it would leave bruises.

  
Alec tasted hints of spice as Magnus's tongue brushed against his. He could feel every contour of him as their bodies touched. He wanted-needed-more. Magnus had on too many layers, and Alec was almost salivating at the thought of having none in the way. Magnus didn't resist as Alec walked him backwards until he was pressed against a wall.

  
"I want you." Alec wasn't sure if it was coherent, or if Magnus was even listening, but the husky note in his voice was surely better than words in any case.

  
Alec got Magnus's shirt off and was reaching for the warlock's fly when Magnus pulled away.

  
He was breathing fast and his face was flushed as he said, "Stop."

  
Alec had been about to pull Magnus back in but at that word he froze. Magnus looked torn halfway between desire and some cautionary emotion that Alec couldn't pinpoint a name for.

  
"You don't want." Alec trailed off, feeling his face flush for all the wrong reasons. Had he read it wrong? Was Magnus not really into him? Was this some sort of elaborate plot that. ?

  
His confusion and insecurity must have showed because Magnus hastened to clarify.

  
"Alec, Alexander, I definitely want to, but aren't we moving a little too fast?" Magnus swallowed, his eyes looking away for a moment like he was trying to figure out what to say. When he turned back, it was with resignation, and even though he tried to be matter of fact it was obvious it was more than just casual facts. "I'm a warlock, you're a Shadowhunter, not to mention everything else we have going against us. I'm afraid that if we move too fast, I may lose you."

  
Alec felt like he had been slapped. "I don't care about that. any of that."

  
Magnus turned away for real then. His shoulders were down and when he turned back his eyes were hooded and his voice husky. "I don't want you to look back on this. look back on us. as a regret." Seeing how Alec's face fell, Magnus clarified, "Not regret. I could never regret you. I just. I don't want this to change things between us."

  
"Magnus. I want this. I want you. I want to make you feel good, and I want to see you come undone. You're right, there is so much against us. Isn't that all the more reason to. I don't know. All I know is, I want you, all of you." Alec reached forward, running a hand along Magnus's waist, close but never touching anywhere inappropriate, because he wasn't quite sure Magnus would welcome it yet. He really hoped he was reading things right, and that Magnus wanted this.

  
Magnus looked into Alec's eyes, studying them for a moment, looking for anything that could mean Alec was unsure. Upon seeing none, he nodded, letting Alec lead the way.

  
Alec leaned back in, kissing Magnus with equal parts passion and gentleness.

  
His worry was alleviated as Magnus kissed him back with just as much fierceness and love.

  
Magnus's hands trailed up his chest, until they reached his shoulders. Before he knew it, Magnus had moved away and pulled his shirt off. A low whine of displeasure erupted from Alec's throat but it was short lived as Magnus started his way down his neck. His tongue lapped against Alec's skin. His teeth nipped sensitive flesh, and his lips alternately kissed and sucked, leaving slight marks in his wake.

  
Alec's knees shook, threatening to give out, and he could feel his pants tightening as Magnus reached his collarbone and bit down. His teeth grazed the skin as he sucked.

  
"F-fuck," Alec gasped out, his hands involuntarily going to Magnus's hair, holding his head in place. Alec's pants felt even tighter, and he was throbbing with need. Their bodies were pressed so tightly together he couldn't get a hand between them, but he made up for it by wrapping an arm around Magnus and pulling him ever closer. Magnus's hip was at just the right angle and Alec grinded into it, loving the friction it caused.

  
Alec stumbled backwards into something, too busy trying to maintain contact with Magnus to notice what it was. Before he knew it, he was flat on his back. Magnus climbed on top of him and as he shifted Alec lost contact.

  
Alec reached down trying to undo his pants, trying to take advantage of the loss of contact, but Magnus grabbed his hands, stopping him. "Not yet, Alexander dear, not until I say."

  
Alec stilled, fighting every urge in his body to touch himself. His skin had goosebumps as Magnus started down his body. Magnus's hands ghosted over his chest, leaving what felt like fire in their wake, and his tongue lapped at Alec's skin, teeth gently nipping, sending a thrill down Alec's spine every time.

  
Alec arched his back as Magnus paused mid-chest, taking a nipple in his mouth and sucking. He grabbed the sheets in his hands, fisting them tightly, and couldn't help bucking up against Magnus, trying to get some friction in just the right areas.

  
"You like that?" Magnus teased. Alec didn't answer and Magnus froze, clearly waiting. His eyes locked with Magnus's. It was part genuine question and part teasing. A slightly sadistic plot of Magnus's to make everything last just a little longer.

  
"Fuck, yes. Yes, I fucking love-" Alec stopped and groaned as Magnus just as quickly started back, this time paying attention to his other nipple and then working his way down to the toned plane of his stomach.

  
Alec reached for his own jeans, trying to tug them down, and once again Magnus was there stopping him. "Not until I say, Alexander."

  
Magnus's voice was deep and low. The command was gentle and yet firm. Alec's hands fell away, and instead he watched as Magnus slowly undressed. The entire time, their eyes were locked together, trance-like and mesmerising.

Alec groaned as Magnus's fingers grabbed Alec's length through his clothes, stroking before he once again pulled away.

  
Alec groaned in frustration. "Please."

  
"Patience, Alexander, these things take time." His eyes were twinkling and Magnus's face wore the hint of a smirk. But, he did resolve to move a little faster.

  
With a quick tug, Magnus pulled Alec's pants and underwear down past his hips, and Alec kicked them off the rest of the way.

  
His dick sprang free, now fully erect and curving up towards his stomach.

  
Magnus watched him hungrily for a moment before reluctantly climbing off and starting to take his own pants off.

  
Alec reached down, stroking himself as he watched Magnus finish undressing.

  
It was clear Magnus liked putting on a show. He unzipped his pants an inch at a time, snaking them down his hips in a way that was much less undressing and much more a way to show off his hips and ass. He made sure to add in a little butt wiggle when he had to turn around for a moment, making Alec giggle ever so slightly.

  
Unlike Alec, Magnus hadn't been wearing underwear, so Alec got to take in the full sight of his boyfriend's unveiling. His body was picture perfect: a toned chest, trailed down to a muscled V, topped off with a neatly trimmed curly hair trail that perfectly accentuated an erect dick. His thighs were powerful and Alec could feel himself becoming harder just from watching the sinews stretch with every movement.

  
Alec stroked harder, increasing the pressure. Precum leaked from the tip and his legs started shaking, tensing as he gasped out shaky breaths, too close to the edge to breathe properly.

  
Involuntarily, Alec closed his eyes, sure he was seconds away and-

  
Alec's eyes snapped open as he froze. His hands couldn't move. Slowly, inexorably, they drifted to his sides and Alec had a moment of panic followed by confusion until he realized Magnus was laughing softly.

  
"Naughty Alexander, enjoying the appetizer so much you can't wait for the main course."

  
"Did you just...my hands." Alec trailed off. It was hard to concentrate. His cock was throbbing with desire and his brain felt drugged with the heady pulsing coursing through him.

  
Magnus sauntered over to the bed, taking his time. "I've had hundreds of years to refine my skills, dear, and you're going to get the full benefit of that tonight."

  
Magnus crawled back over Alec, straddling him so his dick was just touching Alec's. "Every stroke." Magnus rocked forward, brushing himself against Alec and smiling wickedly at the moan it elicited.

  
"Every kiss." He leaned forward, kissing Alec hungrily as he kept rocking against him.

  
"Every lick." Magnus moved down, taking just the tip of Alec's penis between his lips. He sucked for a moment, then licked the tip before taking the whole thing in his mouth.

  
Magnus swallowed and Alec cried out as he felt himself engulfed in the hot wet warmth that was Magnus.

  
"Fuck, please...yes, by the angel yes." Alec mumbled almost incoherently before he realized his hands were free.

 

He twined his fingers in Magnus's hair, doing his best not to thrust upwards into the tight heat as Magnus moved up and down on his dick, throat fucking him.

  
It was over all too soon, leaving Alec a panting wreck.

  
"Ready?"

  
Alex didn't have to ask for what. And he didn't have the breath to do so anyway. Instead, he nodded, and then somehow there was lube being applied, without hands. It was surreal watching Magnus using his magic, so entwined as they were.

  
Then, Magnus's hands were gently attempting to flip him over. "This will be more comfortable, to begin."

  
It was a practical matter in a totally impractical situation and Alec almost wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. Magnus wasn't even done. "If it hurts-"

  
Alec cut him off with a quick kiss followed by, "Fuck me."

  
The simplicity cut through to Magnus, further than any worries could quell. Alec smirked as he watched Magnus's whole face transform.

  
Alec barely had a warning before he was flipped over fully. Carefully, he gathered his knees under him and then one of Magnus fingers was teasing his entrance. Cautiously, the warlock worked his way in slowly and methodically.

  
It didn't hurt so much as it was uncomfortable and unlike anything Alec would ever be able to describe, and after a few minutes of Magnus slowly kneading away the feeling, with his fingers deep inside Alec, Alec leaned back, beginning to enjoy the sensation. It helped that Magnus was stroking Alec's dick as he carefully prepped the shadowhunter. He seemed inclined to continue taking things slow, but Alec, impatient, reached back, grabbing the warlock's girth in his hand. It was hard and hot and Alec longed to suck it. He also longed to be fucked. It was an internal war as to which would win. Alec wasn't sure which he wanted to win. Every sensation new and overwhelming, he wasn't sure what would feel good. He did know he wanted Magnus, all of him. With that thought, he made up his mind.

  
"I'm ready." Magnus paused his ministrations, and Alec twisted his head so he could see him better.

  
Once again, Magnus was watching him carefully, like he was waiting for some explicit confirmation. Apparently, the lust in Alec's eyes were enough that words weren't needed. Magnus held Alec's gaze a moment longer before pushing in, just the tip at first. Alec tensed at the new sensation as Magnus slowly moved out before pressing back in.

  
After a few seconds, the warlock pushed in further until he was fully seated. Alec did his best to force himself to relax. Magnus's dick felt larger than he had expected, yet the sensation of Magnus filling him was better than he had ever imagined it would be. There was a slight pain as he stretched out more with the girth, but he felt filled to the brim and as Magnus thrusted, all the right spots seemed to get hit.

  
Even with the occasional odd angle, Alec felt himself relaxing. As he did so, Magnus picked up speed, becoming more forceful. Magnus's hands gripped Alec's hips. His nails dug in and left scratches.

  
Alec tried to move and this time magic didn't hold him in place, Magnus did. "Not until I say so."

  
Alec twisted his head back, straining his neck as he focused on Magnus. The warlock's head was tipped back and his chest glistening with sweat as he pushed in and out. Magnus's hand had fallen away from Alec's cock, so Alec reached down, balancing on one hand as he used the other to stroke himself.

  
He felt like he could come from just watching Magnus. The warlock was gorgeous. "I want to see you," he blurted out without thinking, and Magnus's eyes, which had been closed, flickered open. He started to say something but Alec, emboldened, cut him off.

  
"I want to see you while we do this. I want to see your face."

  
It wasn't just a want. It was a pervasive need to take in as much of the warlock as possible. He wanted Magnus to show him everything that he was, what he was capable of. Alec could feel how powerful Magnus was as he thrusted into him from behind, but he needed more. Alec felt a strange tingle travel through him like fire from his toes upward.

  
Magnus started to speak then abruptly stopped, his eyes widening, and suddenly they flashed gold, the irises slitting to cat-like pupils and overall changing to something that could only be described as inhuman. Alec barely saw before Magnus was pulling away, pulling out all together and backing away.

  
"Magnus?" Alec was worried, did he say something wrong? "What did I do?"

  
Magnus held his eyes shut, willing his magic to come back to him. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed. Turning towards Alec, he opened his eyes. "I... my glamour. I'm sorry you have to see this. I usually have more control."

  
He looked a mixture of confused and ashamed. And Alec, for his part, had no idea what had just happened. He had wanted to see all of Magnus and now that he was, he had his breath taken away at the sight. "Magnus, they're beautiful." He reached forward, pressing the palm of his hand to Magnus's cheek. "You're beautiful."

  
Magnus stared into Alec's eyes, praying that it wasn't some cruel joke. When he found no hidden malice, he leaned forward and kissed Alec. "You always seem to surprise me, Alexander. There's not many shadowhunters who...." Magnus trailed off.

  
Alec could see he was still uncertain and tried to put him at ease. He knew the first part Magnus had been about to say. "There's not many Shadowhunters who."

  
Look on downworlders as more than subservient scum. Who aren't horrified if they see past my glamor. Who don't..

  
It was what Alec had heard all his life and it was something he had fiercely but silently disagreed with.

  
"Maybe you're just easily surprised. " Magnus still didn't speak, and so Alec added, "I don't care what or who you are, I want you. Glamour, immortality, warlock powers, whatever, you're what I've always wanted since the moment I met you."

  
Magnus's face brightened then, and Alec felt his heart trip. Being with Magnus wasn't just about lust or sex, he genuinely wanted him to be happy. They didn't speak again for a long moment as Magnus leaned forward, trapping Alec's mouth in a kiss.

  
Alec reached out, pulling Magnus closer so they were side by side, pressed skin to skin. Hungry kisses were interspersed with groping hands. Alec wanted more, he thrusted forward. His hips met Magnus's, their dicks brushing against each other. Alec kept the movement up for a few seconds, then started to flip over, wanting to feel Magnus inside him again. Instead, a gentle hand on his waist pulled him back.

  
"I wan-" Alec started to say, only for Magnus to cut him off.

  
"You want to fuck." It was somewhat crude and strange to hear coming from Magnus's mouth. "But-" Magnus kissed the side of his jaw, letting his lips linger so Alec could feel the tickle of his breath as he said, "I want this to be memorable." Magnus lightly licked his neck before continuing. "Your first time...and our first time together." Alec's legs were trembling with need as Magnus almost lazily reached down and stroked Alec's penis.  
"Wha-what do you have in mind?" Alec stumbled over the words, trying to think through a haze of need.

  
"This." Without a further comment. Magnus moved so he was straddled by him. Alec eagerly parted his legs and pulled his knees up as he realised what Magnus planned. It took only a moment for the warlock to get situated, and then he slowly slid in. Magnus leaned closer so their chests were touching, and instead of a fast thrusting motion it was more of a rocking as they both moved against each other. The angle of Magnus's penis hit Alec's prostate in just the right way and the press of their bodies moving against one another made his dick even harder.

  
Alec's breath was getting more and more erratic and he could feel a warm heat pooling in the pit of his abdomen. "Magnus." Alec gasped out his name and, "I'm gonna come." Magnus didn't pause, instead he pulled back slightly and quickened his rhythm as he used the other hand to stroke Alec's length. "Fuck," Alec yelled out, as he finally reached release. They both watched as thick milky ropes spurted out. Abruptly Magnus pulled out and before Alec could protest at the lack of sensation, Magnus had leaned forward, licking the cum off the tip before swallowing Alec's penis.

  
Magnus expertly swallowed as Alec finished. Alec was a shuddering, gasping mess as he rode out the aftershocks and Magnus's warm heat engulfed him, forcing out the last drops.

  
Alec was utterly spent by the time Magnus pulled off. The warlock had a smile on his lips and leaned forward, kissing him. Alec tasted himself on Magnus' lips, but didn't find it particularly unpleasant.

  
As they kissed, Alec felt Magnus against him and realised the Warlock was still hard. A hint of worry crossed his mind and Magnus must have sensed it because he pulled away, his eyebrows creased.

  
"What's wrong?"

  
"Nothing." Alec bit his lip, unsure what to say, then finally blurted it out as Magnus's eyebrows knitted further. "You didn't come and was it...I mean...did I." He trailed off and started slightly as Magnus gave a light laugh.

  
"You're wondering were you adequate." Magnus still had the hint of a laugh on his face that Alec was unsure how to interpret. "...and I was worried you didn't enjoy it," Magnus said.

  
Alec hastened to reply. "That was amazing, you were." Alec trailed off in a light moan as Magnus kissed him again, sucking on his neck in a way that was sure to leave a mark.

  
"And you were likewise extremely pleasurable."

  
"But, you didn't finish." Magnus didn't look particularly upset, but the more Alec stared at Magnus, who was still hard, the more he wanted to taste his boyfriend and feel his length pulsing inside of him. Wanted to see his boyfriend come undone in front of him. Alec reached out, then pulled his hand back, torn between feeling timid and unsure of what to do and wanting to pleasure Magnus.

  
"Can I...I mean-" Alec felt a flush rise to his cheeks as he tried to figure out what to say without sounding crude and unsexy.

  
Magnus, as Alec was quickly becoming used to, seemed to already know. "Just a moment." Alec wondered what they were pausing for, until a shimmer briefly appeared over everything, removing every trace of what they had been doing.

  
"Go ahead." Alec eagerly leaned forward as Magnus laid back, his legs relaxed and parted and his dick curving upwards. Alec kissed Magnus, briefly savoring the way the warlock's tongue twined against his own and the hungry way Magnus sucked his lip, before trailing down his jaw and neck with feather-light kisses. Occasionally he'd add in a small lick which always seemed to elicit a response from the warlock below him. When he reached Magnus's nipples, he sat up again slightly and used his fingers to roll the sensitive nubs before he sucked each of them and continued his way south.

  
Alec licked a lazy trail down to the fine hair just above Magnus's dick, then lingered there, gently nipping the skin and alternately sucking. Magnus was trembling and Alec took pleasure knowing he was the cause of the warlock's ecstasy.

  
Emboldened, he finally made his way to Magnus's dick and stared in awe at it. Precum was leaking from the tip, leaving little glistening trails. Alec watched fascinatedly for a moment before leaning forward without thinking and licking the tip. Magnus tasted slightly salty, with a hint of sweetness and musk. Alec lapped at the tip, and was slightly surprised when Magnus gave a groan of pleasure. Encouraged, he sucked the head, rolling the hardened tip between his lips. Magnus writhed under him, his hands fisting the sheets.

  
Alex pulled back, unsure what to do next. Should he continue sucking? Or try swallowing Magnus. He wasn't sure if he could do that without gagging, though. Or maybe.

  
Alec trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished as Magnus once again took over any rational thought of him. The warlock was laid back, his eyes half closed, small beads of sweat glistening on his skin and his breath husky.

  
He was perfect.

  
It was impulsive and Alec had no idea why he did it but abruptly he leaned forward, kissing the nearest part of Magnus.

  
It just so happened to be the warlock's dick. Magnus's eyes fluttered open and he gave a light chuckle. "You're quite a tease, Alexander."

  
Alec wasn't sure how to take the comment but Magnus followed up with, "I think you've got some hidden talents."

  
Alec leaned upward, kissing Magnus's lips again before returning to where he was. This time he took the warlock's length in his mouth, sucking and rolling his tongue across the sensitive flesh. Magnus gently placed a hand on his back, nails just digging in.

  
Alec brought his hand up, stroking the shaft as he moved his mouth. Magnus's hips were trembling and he could tell the warlock was struggling not to thrust upwards into the wet heat engulfing him. As Magnus's legs started to shake harder, Alec opened his mouth, taking as much of Magnus in as possible.

  
Magnus's restraint had broken by this time and the warlock was gently moving his hips, bucking upwards as Alec drove him to the edge.

  
Alec continued moving up and down Magnus's shaft, determined to finish the warlock off. Abruptly, he felt the warlock stiffen, then Magnus was gently pulling him upwards into a kiss. Magnus's salty taste mingled on their tongues as they kissed and Alec could feel Magnus stroking himself. The warlock pulled away after a few seconds shuddering, his face falling slack, and Alec felt Magnus's dick quiver against him as the warlock came. Hot ropes of cum spurted out and Alec reached down, running a finger through the pearly white drops that clung to Magnus's stomach. Curious, he licked his finger to taste, immediately drawing his hand back with a slight grimace on his face, regretting the decision. Luckily for Alec, Magnus's eyes were still shut and he basked in the afterglow for a moment. Leaning forward, he kissed his blissed-out boyfriend.

  
Magnus blinked open his eyes, batting long eyelashes over the bright cat eyes that were still on display. "Alexander."

  
"Hmmmm?" Alec had laid his head on Magnus's chest, feeling pleasantly tired. He looked up as the warlock called his name.

  
"Stay with me." Alec's brow furrowed in confusion...he hadn't planned on going anywhere, then he noticed the insecure look half hidden in the warlock's eyes.

  
Magnus was hurriedly continuing, "Just for tonight and."

  
Alec cut him off with a quick kiss than laid his head back on the warlock's chest, sure to keep eye contact as he firmly said, "I'm not leaving you." It was four simple words, but the sincerity with which Alec spoke them had Magnus's face relaxing. Just as quickly as it had come, the obvious hints of worry disappeared, leaving behind only a slight tenseness in his shoulders.

  
The warlock briskly raised a hand, and Alec watched with curiosity as the same shimmer from before came descending upon them. Alec giggled slightly as the mist touched him, tickling, before it disappeared, taking the slight stickiness of Magnus's cum away and leaving the sheets clean and crisp.

  
"That's." Alec had been about to say amazing but wondered if that would make Magnus self-conscious. Instead, he finished lamely, "...really useful."

  
"Indeed." Magnus raised an eyebrow. "I figured we'd save the shower and. other things for the morning."

 

Alec grinned as he realised what Magnus had in mind. He leaned up, kissing the warlock. It was too soon to do anything else, but the mere thought had his dick growing slightly hard.

  
Magnus smirked as he felt the reaction his words had caused. He pressed a kiss to Alec's neck and raised a hand again. With a flourish, the room descended into darkness, and at the same time Magnus whispered, breath brushing against Alec's ear and sending a tingle down his spine.

  
"Patience, Alexander. Sleep first. We've got a long morning ahead of us, love."

  
Alec caught that last word and blushed. He was about to say something about it when Magnus leaned in and kissed him.

  
"Goodnight, Alexander."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who else is dying from the mid season finale? Because I am


	10. Magic

Alec woke up the morning after feeling languid and relaxed.  The sunlight streaming in the windows made the room glow, with soft shafts of light running along the bed sheets.  Magnus was still asleep as Alec stirred fully awake. Shifting closer, Alec wrapped an arm around his boyfriend and ran his fingers gently through his Magnus’s hair.  Reveling in the slow sensuality this morning brought, Alec wished it would never end. Sadly, every good thing comes to an end, and eventually Magnus stirred awake under his fingertips.

“Morning,” Magnus said, sleepily.

“Morning.” Alec’s voice was a little hoarse as he spoke.  Clearing his throat, he tried again. “Morning. How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby.  You?” Magnus cuddled closer into Alec’s arms, nuzzling his shoulder slightly.

“Best sleep I’ve had in awhile,”  Alec admitted. Feeling a bit playful, he had an idea. Looking around for his phone, he grabbed it to look at the time. “Oh wow, look at the time.  I need to get to the Institute.” He pulled away from Magnus as if to get up and leave.

Magnus’s face just fell as he made no move to stop the shadowhunter. “Oh.  Okay.”

Leaning back down and kissing him quickly, he pulled back and said, “Kidding,” before reinserting himself wrapped around Magnus.

Magnus chuckled slightly, pulling Alec closer, kissing his chin.

 

\--

 

They stayed in bed for a few more hours, snuggling and talking.  They drifted in and out of sleep a few times before deciding it was time to get up.

Stretching, Alec made his way to the bathroom while Magnus went to make breakfast.

Looking in the mirror, Alec noticed the stubble on his face, and the bird’s nest that was his hair. He even spotted a small hickey that had formed low on his neck.  Luckily, it was low enough that he could cover it with his clothes. Knowing that Magnus didn’t keep much around since he could fix those sorts of things with magic, Alec ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it a bit.  

He leaned over to wash his face with the water from the sink, loving the feel of the cool water on his face.  He wished he had a proper brush or razor, but figured he would make do with what he had. Maybe he could ask Magnus to conjure him one later.  

Standing straight again and keeping his eyes closed from the water dripping down, he reached for more water to wet his hair a bit.  With dampened hair, he grabbed for a towel to dry his eyes off. He went back to fixing his hair in the mirror, only to look down and notice something odd.  He could have sworn he had stubble on his chin a moment ago. 

Feeling his face, he confirmed to himself that, yes, his jawline was perfectly smooth, as if he had just shaved.  He wasn’t sure how to feel about it really. On one hand, he did need to shave anyways. On the other, what just happened?  Where did his hair go? Did Magnus do something? Was the towel enchanted?

He quickly left to find Magnus and get some answers.

 

\--

“Hey,” he said, wrapping his arms around Magnus from behind.  He slid his chin against Magnus, hoping he would notice the difference in texture from moments ago.

“Hello Alexander,”  Magnus chuckled while stirring the contents of the frying pan he was using.

“Do you notice anything different, Magnus?” Alec asked, really hoping to ease him into this question.

Magnus turned towards him, studying his face for a moment. “Hmm. Nope.  Sex does not change someone from the outside. You’ll be fine, dear.”

Alec’s face heated up a bit at the sentence.  “Magnus, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” He had already turned back to cooking as he tossed the question over his shoulder.

“My face.  It’s clean shaven.  Did you do something?” 

“No?” Magnus turned back towards Alec to look at his shaved face.

“I washed my face off and when I dried my eyes on your towel, I opened my eyes to a shaved face.  What did you do?” 

“I can assure you I had no part in this, dear.  I like your stubble. Makes you feel more rugged, manly.” Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec, leaning in to kiss him once.

Pulling back, Alec almost whined.  “Well, if you didn’t do anything, where did it go?”

“Maybe you fell back asleep and shaved before waking up?” Magnus chuckled to himself at the joke.  

Just then Alec noticed that Magnus’s food started to catch fire. “Magnus!”

Magnus whipped around towards the flames. 

Alec’s arm shot out on instinct and flipped his hand up towards the flame.  Blue wisps shot out of his hand at the fire, smothering it. Alec stood there, stunned at what just happened.

“Alec… Did you just?  I… That was magic. My magic.”

“I… that’s not… how?” Alec couldn’t seem to find his voice.

“Alexander, why don’t you sit down and we’ll talk about this.” Magnus had a face that may as well have been a wall with how poorly Alec could read the emotions behind it.  Magnus wrapped a hand around Alec’s still-outstretched wrist and tugged him towards a couch. “Alec. Care to tell me what just happened?” Alec quickly turned the knob on the stove off before following Magnus’s pull.

Alec still wasn’t sure himself what happened. One minute there were flames and he had to warn Magnus, the next he was reaching out and power developed from his arm.  Magic. Magnus’s magic, he had said. How could he have wielded Magnus’s magic? “...I don’t know. I… you… there were flames and… I don’t know. I just reacted and then… that happened.”

Magnus sat there, silently, for what felt like forever to Alec. Alec couldn’t tell if he was worried, or angry, or as shocked as Alec himself felt.  Not knowing how Magnus was feeling about it was killing Alec more than the fact that it had happened.

Slowly, Magnus seemed to turn back on. “Maybe… it could have been an after effect of the alliance rune?”

“But ours failed?”

“We never did figure out why it failed.  Maybe it didn’t really fail?” Magnus was only guessing at this point, and really wished he could go grab some books to start reading about the subject.  He knew the alliance rune was something new though, so he wouldn’t have a book relevant enough and would need to ask some outside help.

“...Maybe.  That does seem plausible.”  Alec was still a little stunned that it had happened.

Magnus sat in thought for a bit, thinking through who might know more.  Catarina knew a lot about magic, but not specifically bonding magic. Ragnor would have known, but he was gone.  Oh. The seelie queen would know. She knew way more than she ever let on, and she let on that she knew quite a lot.  He would not be surprised if she knew what just happened. “Alexander. I know someone who may know more than we do about what just happened.  It won’t be pleasant speaking to them though.” He almost cringed bringing her up. 

Alec’s face lit up.  If there was someone who would know more, who cared if it wasn’t a great time?  How bad could it be? “Who?”

Magnus figured there was no way to sugar coat it further and just blurted out, “The seelie queen.”  Seeing how Alec’s face fell, he continued quickly, “She knows quite a great deal about many things. She’s the only person I know of on earth that could know about what is going on.”

“Alright,” Alec found himself saying, almost without thinking. “Alright, let’s arrange to meet the seelie queen.”

 

\--

 

The queen refused to see them until the next full moon.  Cited something about the moon cycle coinciding with some natural phenomena.  Alec wasn’t quite sure, but it meant they had to wait about a week and a half.  During that time, the accidental magic bursts seemed to happen more and more. Once he reheated his tea, and on another day he cleaned his clothes of demon ichor mid-battle.  It wasn’t ever anything bad, but it was very odd being able to summon Magnus’s magic at will at times. He tried his best not to do it on purpose, not wanting to over-tax Magnus, but it was like his body responded to the magic as if it really was his own. 

By the time the full moon came, Alec was almost used to the magical outbursts.  The minor conveniences were quite helpful, but he could see how the more powerful magic would tax Magnus, and he felt immensely guilty every time it happened.

They had decided to bring Clary, Jace, and Simon along with the two of them for support, so they all convened in the park with the entrance to the fae realm.

“So, any weird magical outbursts today, big brother?” Izzy loved rubbing it in his face that he got to do magic, even if he couldn’t really control it.

“Ha ha. Only once this morning when the lights all went out because I didn’t want to wake up.” 

“What’s the faerie realm like?  Is it all mystical or what?” Simon asked, ever curious.  

“Mostly forests.  Just… don’t touch anything, pretty boy,” Jace said.

“Oo.  He thinks I’m pretty,” Simon laughed.

“Guys.  Be serious.  We need to get into the realm, and it’s extremely dangerous.  Don’t touch anything, definitely don’t eat anything, and don’t trust anything, especially not the queen,”  Alec said.

“Why wouldn’t we trust the person we are going to see?” Simon asked.

“She knows a great many things, but she also twists the truth.  She is a seelie, and therefore cannot lie, but she will do anything she can to never give the full truth,”   Magnus explained.

They stood on the bridge that would lead them to the entrance.  One by one, they stepped up onto the railing and flung themselves over, plunging towards the stream down below.  Just before hitting the water, they of course were transported into the realm.

The fae realm was eerily quiet, as the fog drifted through the unnatural-looking trees.  Unseen bugs buzzed by Alec’s ears. They walked for what seemed like ages, but by Alec’s watch, it was less than 20 minutes.  As they rounded on the queen’s unearthly hollow, Alec noticed that the sky had grown a deep purple, signifying their arrival.

“Welcome, shadowhunters, warlock, vampire.  The queen is expecting you,” a seelie, who resembled a child not older than 4 said as she moved around them as they entered the space. “Please, come in.”

They ventured in further, coming upon a throne room with a throne made of what looked to be tree roots and flowers in the center.  The room was empty, save themselves and the throne, yet it felt like eyes were on them as they looked around. Alec heard what sounded to be children’s laughter faintly in his ears, but couldn’t determine the source of the noise.  Looking at one another, they all seemed to shrug, unsure of what to do.

“Welcome,” a voice came suddenly.

They all turned towards the voice, towards the throne, where there sat a child.  Everyone looked between themselves, wondering how she had entered without any of them noticing.  

“I am many things.  I am the bees, the bugs, the earth, the sky.  I am the thunderstorms, and cities. I am everything and nothing you can see.  Do not wonder how you did not see me, for would you think twice at a lowly caterpillar, or rolling stormcloud?” True to her words, her voice echoed as if it were the sounds of everything at once, coming together to create this unique sound as she willed it so.  A hundred horses stampeding through a meadow, yet also a child singing, a bird’s wings flapping, and a rock rolling down a hill, all creating one fluid creation that was her words. “Come, I wish to speak to you individually. The rest shall wait in the dining area.” She pointed a finger towards a door that previously had not existed.

“Valentine’s experiments first.  Clary, if I may?” She held a hand out towards the redhead.

“How does she know my name?” Clary turned to Jace, seeking information with her eyes, clearly wary of what she was about to do.

“Come, child.  It is time we speak.  You will return to the others after you have finished with me.” 

Jace nodded to Clary, giving reassurance to her before they all left for the dining area.

 

\--

 

The table was low to the ground and covered in fruits and meats of all kinds.  Stones were their chairs as they sat around the display.

“Eat, children,” another young seelie said, passing by.

“We came to speak, that is all,” Jace said, taking charge.

Simon reached for an apple sitting near him, about to take a bite when Magnus grabbed his wrist. “Wha-?”

Magnus just shook his head, willing a burst of magic to show the fruit as it truly was.  The apple transformed in front of Simon’s eyes into a ball of worms, wriggling out of his hands as soon as they were able. “It’s a trick.  It’s what they do.”

Simon nodded, swallowing hard.

 

\--

 

They sat for quite some time in relative silence before Clary returned.  As she sat, Jace was called back. Clary filled them in on some of what the queen had said to her, finishing long before the queen sent Jace back to them.  Calling Alec next, Alec rose from the stone seat. Gripping Magnus’s hand once, he turned and walked to the doorway that would lead to the queen.

“Ah.  You are Alexander Lightwood, but you would prefer Alec by most, correct?” the queen tossed an apple in the air before biting into it.

“Yes.  That is me.”

“And what is it you wish of me?”

“We came to get answers.  I’ve been in control of magic for a few days and we aren’t sure why.  We were hoping you might know more.” He stood, back straight, hands clasped behind his back.  

“Are you sure?  That is not the answer you truly seek.” She stepped close. “No.  It’s not the answer you need. You need something you didn’t think to ask.  How could you, young shadowhunter? You were but unborn at the time of the occurrence.” She flitted around him, touching various items around the decorated room they stood in.  “Just a babe. Innocence before all else.”

Alec wasn’t sure what she was speaking about, a baby? The magic issue only happened a few days ago.  What did his childhood have to do with anything?

“A tiny beetle once pushed a rock.  The rock rolled and crushed an ant.” Her voice turned malicious. “Is the beetle to blame?  A child is playing and throwing some sticks. A stick hits a house and a window breaks. Is the child to blame? Hm?” She paused and seemed to be waiting for him to answer.

Clearing his throat, he began, “The beetle didn’t know about the ant.  The child would be to blame for breaking the window though.” He eyed her, trying to figure out her game here.

“Ah.  But does the beetle not know?  Was it not some plot? And the child, why are they to blame?  What of the parents? Did they not have a part to play? To protect the child, to keep it from breaking the windows to the house?  No, the child is not to blame for the mistakes of its parents. And it was the ant’s fault for trusting both the beetle and the stone.  You must speak with another, if you want to know more.” She turned away from him, walking away. “Send in the vampire next.”

“But, I… Who do I speak to?  You haven’t answered my question.” Alec tried his best to keep his voice level.

“I have told you.  You must seek the one who betrays without blame, and the one who blames without effort.  Seek the one who sired the innocent with the blood of another, whom has yet to be revealed.” With that, she raised a hand.  Flicking her wrist, he was compelled by a force out of the room.

 

\--

 

When they left the seelie court, they all walked in silence, trying to figure out what their personal talks had meant.  Alec couldn’t figure out what she had meant when she referred to his childhood, let alone the rest. He had of course told everything to the group but everyone had drawn a blank too.  Magnus’s advice was even more cryptic, and may have not even been related. Something about his own parentage making the magic possible for Alec to use was all they really got out of it.  

Eventually they broke off into separate groups, and Alec walked with Magnus back to his place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How are you guys liking this so far? I haven't heard from anyone on this in awhile.


	11. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of your comments on the last chapter inspired me so much that I went in and finished editing everything! Here is the last chapter (and the epilogue is the next chapter and will be uploaded shortly) of Coalescence!

A few days later, things hit the fan.  Valentine attacked the Institute, took Simon hostage.  Alec spent hours on edge and fighting. He didn’t even really think about what all he was doing, just working off instinct, which meant quite a bit of magic was thrown around in between strikes with his angel blade.  He almost didn’t even notice.

By the time the dust settled, Alec was haggard and exhausted.  He hoped Magnus wasn’t feeling the effects too much after the amount of magic he had inadvertently flung around, even if it was incredibly helpful.  

Alec met Jace, Clary, Simon, and Magnus in the ops center surrounded by hundreds of slain downworlders.  Not even questioning how Simon and Magnus made it through the battle, Alec just folded into Magnus’s arms immediately. “Magnus, there you are.”

Magnus hugged into Alec’s arms tightly, embracing his boyfriend with every ounce of strength he had left in him.

“I was so worried.  Never in my life have I been that scared.” Alec found himself admitting the fears he had had during the entire battle.  The uncertainty if Magnus was alive, the fear that even if he had made it past the initial wave, that he could die at any moment.  The bits of magic he had flung both worried him more and assured him that Magnus was alive at the very least. It hadn’t been nearly enough to quell the terror that the next time he went to grasp the magic it would be gone.  “I… I love you.”

Magnus swallowed. “I love you, too.” 

It was simple, the response, but it spoke volumes and Alec just sagged back into Magnus’s arms, kissing him breathlessly.  Lips and teeth and tongue expressed every inch of emotion he was feeling without words. Drawing Magus’s lower lip between his teeth, he gently bit down, causing Magnus to gasp against him.  With their hands wandering, it was like they were the only two in the world left that moment. An overpowering swell of emotion hit Alec in the gut as he kissed and kissed and kissed away. Pulling back to pant for breath, he looked Magnus in the eyes.  “Magnus…” his voice was softer than he had expected. Unsure of where he had been going with the sentence, he moved back in to press their foreheads together and breathed. Breath ghosted over his lips as they breathed together, neither wanting to pull away from the little bubble of their world.  

“Guys.  We need to go.  Valentine still has the soul sword and he’s heading into central park.  We need to go after him,” Jace’s voice broke through the rushing in Alec’s ears, pulling him back to the present.

“Right.  Yeah, we should go,” he said, pulling away from Magnus, red-faced.

 

\--

 

Magnus portalled the group, arriving just as Valentine entered the park.  Magnus and Simon didn’t go through the portal themselves, wary of the still-activated soul sword.

“Valentine!  We need the soul sword back.  Just give it up. You’ve lost,” Jace called out to him, sprinting to catch him.

Alec and Clary ran behind Jace, just a few steps back.  Drawing his bowstring, he knocked an arrow, aiming as he ran.

A brief scuffle ensued once they reached Valentine, with the soul sword changing hands a few times, landing back in Valentine’s hands just as he spoke, “You’re not her sister, Jace.  I’m not your father.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Jace called, grappling with him.  

Alec tried to aim, but he knew that if he let an arrow fly, it had a high probability of hitting Jace as they struggled for control of the sword.

“Soul sword, remember?  You three were my greatest creations of all of my experiments,” he said with a punch to Jace’s gut.

“Three?” Jace asked, muddled. “What do you mean, ‘three’?”

“You three - you, Clary, Alec.  All my creations.” He spoke between attacks in short spurts of conversation.  He lunged at Jace once more, soul sword coming in contact with Jace’s hastily drawn angel blade.  The clanging of their blades reverberated, repelling the two from each other. Panting, he continued, “You, Jace and Clary.  You carry the blood of the angel in you. And Alec…” He turned towards Alec to speak. “Oh, you are the greatest experiment of them all.  You see, when your mother and father came to me, begging to be a part of the experiment, I was in possession of the mortal cup.”

Jace lunged, hoping to get an edge on Valentine.  They tumbled for a moment, both losing their footing.  They fought on the ground but again separated, panting.

“With the mortal cup, you see, I could purify blood.  So I got the strongest I could find. Mother of demons they call her, and she was more than willing to provide a little blood once I explained.  You see, she enjoys having a little, shall we say ‘fun’ with infants.” He was smirking as he spoke. 

Alec kept his bow drawn but found it hard to keep it aimed, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

“Lilith herself’s blood runs through your veins.  But you are no demon. Oh no, the mortal cup made sure of that.  I wonder what all her power has done for you, hmm?”

With that, Jace lunged again at Valentine, continuing the fight.  This time though, Jace remained standing, while Valentine fell. The soul sword flew through the air, landing near Clary’s feet.

Alec re-aimed his bow, sure he could make an unobstructed shot now.  Letting loose an arrow, it connected with Valentine’s leg, pinning him to the ground.

After that, it was mostly over.  Clary somehow lost the soul sword, but they got Valentine into custody.  The shock of all of the revelations ran thick between everyone.

 

\--

 

With Valentine in custody, things around the Institute ran significantly more smoothly.  Everyone settled into normal rhythms again, though Alec was still for some reason in control of Magnus’s magic.  In fact, it was getting more worrisome.

Three days after Valentine was apprehended, Alec was mid-battle against some shax demons and threw up a ward between himself and the demons.

Two days after that, Alec conjured an entire plate of cookies from France when he got hungry.

A few days later, he thought Magnus had made a portal for him, but no, he had created the portal.  That one really threw Magnus for awhile.

Then, about a month after the attack, things came to a head.  Alec was lying in bed with Magnus, talking about where they should take their next date.

“Alexander, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t ever go back there, but we haven’t been to so many other delicious places to eat yet.  You’ve only seen a fraction of the places I could show you.” Magnus leaned in to kiss Alec, hoping that if his mouth was occupied he wouldn’t fight him on it.

Of course, after the kiss, Alec pulled away and continued. “All I’m saying is that I want to go back there again next date.  Not that we can’t go somewhere else the next time. Please?” Alec went to reach for Magnus’s hand when suddenly they weren’t in their bed anymore.  Looking around, bewildered and on high alert, Alec recognised their new location. They were seated at a table at the restaurant they had just been discussing.  No portals, no movement, just one moment in bed, the next, staring at each other from across a table on the other side of the world.

Slowly, Magnus said, “Alec… Was this… did you…?”

“I don’t know? Maybe?”

“Okay.  Well, let’s portal back.  Portal, not… teleport? Back to New York, and we’re going to get my friend Catarina on the phone.  This can’t be normal, because even I can’t do this.” Magnus was speaking very slowly, so as not to scare Alec from how freaked out he was.  It was rare when a bit of magic was unheard of without consequences, and teleportation was one of them.

“Sure, but since we’re here, maybe we could eat first?  I’m hungry,” Alec suggested, not sensing the severity of the situation.

“Alright, but after, we portal right back.” Magnus tried to keep a level head as he spoke.

 

\--

 

“Well boys, my best guess is a soul bond.  Probably something to do with your experimental blood, or something along those lines.” Catarina had been checking them of anomalies for over an hour by that point when she suggested this.  “Honestly, it’s pretty unstable, too. What did you guys do to it?” She looked at them as if they were going to come out with some revelation about how they secretly had been doing soul bond manipulation magic or something.

Magnus shook his head.  “Soul bond? Why would we have a soul bond?  We did try the alliance rune…”

“Alliance rune?” Catarina asked, rounding the couch Alec was lying on.

Alec sat up, listening more intently to his boyfriend, trying to understand what was happening to himself.

“There was a rune Biscuit created.  It was meant for one shadowhunter and one downworlder to wear.  It created a temporary soul bond between the two people, but when Alec and I tried, it faded away immediately and didn’t work…  It wasn’t long after that the magical accidents started,” Magnus explained.

Catarina stood in thought for a few moments, then asked, “How long ago was this alliance rune performed?”

Alec answered immediately, “It was the day before we… uh… it was a few days after my mother’s wedding to Luke.” Alec cleared his throat, trying to suppress the blush at what he almost said.

“No, that can’t be it, then.  This bond is older than that. Much too strong for it to have happened after the wedding.”  Catarina sat next to Magnus on the other couch. “Did you notice anything weird before the magical accidents?  Either of you?” she asked.

“No,” Alec said, easily.

“No… Well, there were a few times where I was surprised at how little my magical expending didn’t seem to tire me out.  But beyond that, no.”

“Hmm…” Catarina went silent again as Alec and Magnus shared a look.  

Alec was scared and trying not to show it, so he smiled dimly at Magnus, who returned an equally dim smile.

“Well, how you got the soul bond doesn’t matter so much, just that you have one.  An unstable one.” Catarina swirled her hands between the two. A shaft of light shone between Magnus and Alec, flickering almost like a heartbeat.  “See? It keeps shifting. You’ll need to fix it.”

“My dear Catarina.  You know I don’t delve into bonding magic often.  How would you recommend we fix our inadvertent soul bond?”  Magnus looked towards Alec, worried what he might be thinking.

“Well, you could try to dissolve the bond, but this looks like it’s been here long enough that it won’t go easily.  Or, you could leave things alone. You probably won’t die from it, but these magical accidents are worrisome…” Catarina trailed off in thought.

“What aren’t you saying?  How do we repair it?” Alec asked, anxious as to what Catarina was avoiding.

“Well, you could attempt to replace the bond.  It didn’t work with your alliance rune because that was a lesser bond, one that would dissolve on its own. But… a stronger bonding?  That should, in theory, fix the bond.”

“Stronger bond?  What would be a stronger bond?  Like my parabatai bond? I can’t become parabatai with Magnus.” Alec rushed his words, suddenly very worried that was what Catarina was implying.  He couldn’t have two parabatai, and you can’t date your parabatai either. Alec didn’t even want to think about what that would be like, being that close to Magnus and never able to act?

“Parabatai are for shadowhunters, Alexander.” Magnus’s face was pale, pretty certain what Catarina was getting at.

“Then what?” Alec looked towards Catarina for information.

“She thinks we should marry to fix the bond.  If that would even fix it, that is. In theory, it would, but there’s no guarantee.” Magnus got up then and stepped out of the room before Alec could process what he had said, let alone respond.

 

\--

 

Magnus was sitting on his bed, trying to calm his breath.  He couldn’t take being in the room with Alec right then. He couldn’t look at his face.  Alec would either refuse the option, because of course he wouldn’t want to marry Magnus, or, ever pragmatic, would agree to marry him to fix the bond.  Magnus didn’t care to know which the shadowhunter would choose.

As he sat on his own bed, Magnus couldn’t help but cry.  

 

\--

 

Alec knocked on Magnus’s door. He didn’t know for sure that was where Magnus went, but it had been almost a ten minutes since Magnus disappeared in that direction, so Alec was hoping.  He was worried about Magnus. It wasn’t like him to just drop something and leave, especially when it mattered. 

After standing by the door with no answer, Alec tried the handle.  The door swung open into the room, showing a scene that about broke Alec’s heart.  Magnus was on the bed crying his eyes out, seemingly unaware of the intrusion.

“Magnus,” Alec said softly, hoping not to startle him. Alec stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, covering them in darkness.  “Magnus. Are you okay?” Alec walked across the room, sitting down next to Magnus on the bed. “Mags. Please, talk to me.” Alec raised a hand to touch, but stopped himself, unsure if it would be wanted.

Magnus looked up through tear-coated eyelashes at Alec, sniffling slightly. “I…” he started, voice faltering.

“Hey, what is it?” Alec was worried about his boyfriend. He hadn’t seen Magnus this upset in a long time, maybe ever.  Alec thought, trying to figure out what could have caused this reaction. One minute they were discussing how to fix the soul bond, Magnus saying that they would need to get married, then… this.  “Is… Magnus, look at me, please?” 

Magnus’s gaze had dropped again, trying to force back another wave of tears. Slowly, he lifted his eyes again to stare at Alec, hoping beyond hope that Alec would get things over with.  That he would dump him and leave so Magnus could start trying to pick up the pieces of himself… if he ever was able to do that.

“I love you.  Tell me what’s wrong?” Alec wanted to cry, seeing his boyfriend this torn apart.  The pain in Magnus’s eyes would break anyone’s heart, but Alec knew this was probably about him at this point, and that thought alone made it all the worse.  “Please? Is it… Do you not want to marry me? Is that it? Because you heard Catarina - we could wait.” Alec wasn’t sure if he hoped that was what it was, or if that was the worst possible outcome.  

Magnus, hearing the way Alec phrased the question, honestly couldn’t help but laugh.  It came out as a cold chuckle between the tears, and the way it happened made him gasp for breath every few seconds, unable to breathe.  Taking a moment to calm himself, he answered, “Alexander, no. I… I’ve never… You…” He couldn’t seem to find the words to express everything he was feeling.  “I… don’t want to trap you into a marriage just to fix this bond we accidentally have. That’s… That’s not what marriage should be for.” 

Magnus said the words with such conviction, Alec almost wasn’t sure what to do.  “...Magnus. Is that what you think? I… Magnus, I love you.” Alec pressed closer to Magnus, finally touching him, trying to convey his words through his actions. “I want this.  I…. may not have been expecting it so soon… but, I... “ Alec looked directly into Magnus’s eyes, pouring all of his emotions into them. “I want to marry you. Not… not just to fix the bond.”  Alec grabbed the back of Magnus’s head, threading his fingers through soft locks. He shook his head slightly, almost disbelieving that Magnus didn’t think he would want to marry him. “Do you… Do you want to marry me?”  he asked, suddenly anxious that he had read things wrong, since Magnus hadn’t spoken yet.

“Alexander.  Yes.” Magnus’s eyes softened exponentially as he spoke. “Yes.  I want to marry you.” Magnus found himself crying again, but for wholly different reasons this time.  He reached his arms around Alec, pulling him close. Breathing in Alec’s scent, Magnus centered himself again, trying to stop crying.  

Alec pulled back, looked in Magnus’s tear-filled eyes, and dove in for a kiss.  Lips locked together, Alec let himself feel how real this all was. Pulling back, he said, smiling, “We’re getting married.”


	12. Epilogue

They stayed together in their bed, kissing and exploring one another for some time, re-learning each other as fiancés.  Eventually though, Magnus pulled away. “We may need to go speak with Catarina. We did leave her quite suddenly, I’m afraid.”

Alec placed another kiss to Magnus’s lips. “You’re right.  We should…. We should give her the news.” 

The two left their room and found Catarina seated on one of the couches, drinking a cocktail.  “I hope you don’t mind. I broke into your liquor while I waited.”

“That’s fine, dear.  You know you are always welcome to it.” Magnus almost couldn’t wait to tell his dear friend about the decision, but Alec beat him to it.

“We’re going to do it.  Get married, I mean. We’re going to get married.”  Alec almost didn’t have the ability to contain his excitement anymore.  Turning towards Magnus, he gasped, “We have to tell my family. We should tell them in person.”  He leaned in to kiss his fiancé again, giddy with excitement.

“That’s good for you, boys.  I’m very happy for you. I would recommend you do the ceremony soon before the bond has time to do any more damage to itself.  Though, judging by the current weather, you may know that already.” Catarina pointed to the light snowflakes falling in the living room, coating everything in a fine layer of white.

Alec’s face went red, blushing hard that he had accidentally done that once again.  

“I’ll open you two a portal to the Institute.  Magnus, have fun with the in-laws. I’m happy for you, really.”  Catarina rose from her seat and set her drink on the coffee table nearby.  With the wave of her hand, a portal opened for them. “I’ll see you soon, Magnus.  Keep in touch. I expect an invitation, of course.”

With that, they stepped through the portal together.

 

\--

 

Texting his family, Alec led Magnus to the ops center, meeting everyone there.

“Hey Alec, what’s up?  You said it was urgent?” Jace asked, battle-ready from his tone.

“Calm down, Jace.  It’s not demons. We have news.”  Alec braced himself to tell everyone. “We’ve decided we’re getting married.”  Alec paused to let the news sink in. Next thing he knew, Izzy was ambushing him in a hug. 

“Oh my god, Alec!  I’m so excited! We have to plan everything!  When are you guys thinking? Autumn? Winter?”

Alec looked to Magnus for help, pleading with his eyes.

“Isabelle, you may want to think a little more short-term, perhaps?  Say… next week?” Magnus said, amused.

Izzy’s eyes went wide.  Gasping, she just grabbed the two of them by the wrist and led them towards an empty room.  “We have to start planning, now! Why must everyone make these decisions last minute?!” 

Alec looked to Magnus, rolling his eyes at his sister as they were dragged away from the rest of the family.  

Magnus just held Alec’s stare, before linking their hands together.  ‘I love you,’ he mouthed.

‘Love you too,’ Alec mouthed back, sneaking a kiss as they walked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S DONE! This was the first big bang fic I ever wrote, though of course didn't get submitted to the big bang due to it having been cancelled. It's been a journey!  
> Everyone thank my coauthor for the help, and the like 7 people I had beta this and fix all of my mistakes (and again, if you ever catch an issue in a fic of mine please please tell me) 
> 
> Look forward to a new series coming from me and my coauthor that we are working on. It's sure to be a longer one.


	13. Cancellation Note, Please Read

/********/ Authors Note Chapter /********/

Shadowhunters was cancelled on Freeform. There are twitter campaigns to try to get it picked up by another network, but enthusiasm is starting to wane after 48 hours have gone by. We've decided to run a Creation Power Hour to reboost moral and to keep the hashtags trending. So, Tomorrow at 6pm EST ([ When is that for me? ](https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=SaveShadowhunters+Creation+Power+Hour&iso=20180607T06&p1=179&ah=1)) we want you all to post new fic, art, whatever it is you create to every social media platform you have. It doesnt matter if its a stupid little drawing, or a picture of a clay doll you made, or a 100 word drabble you wrote in 20 minutes. Just make it, and post it. We will be participating too so don't worry, some short fics will be coming from us.  
  
There is a collection set up here on AO3 that you can post to so people can find you works in the future when they need the inspiration. Feel free to message us there if you need inspiration or help. (This fic was added to the collection so you can find it easily).  
  
Let's show these tv corporations what it means to be a fan!

/*******/ End Authors Note Chapter /*******/

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Coalescence](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13533696) by [Jecari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jecari/pseuds/Jecari)




End file.
